In this paper we obtain presentations of fundamental groups of the complements of three quadric-line arrangements in P^2. The first arrangement is a smooth quadric Q with n tangent lines to Q, and the second one is a quadric Q with n lines passing through a point p not in Q. The last arrangement consists of a quadric Q with n lines passing through a point p in Q.
In this work we obtain presentations of fundamental groups of the complements of three families of quadric arrangements in $\mathbb{P}^2$. The first arrangement is a union of $n$ quadrics, which are tangent to each other at two common points. The second arrangement is composed of $n$ quadrics which are tangent to each other at one common point. The third arrangement is composed of $n$ quadrics, $n-1$ of them are tangent to the $n$'th one and each one of the $n-1$ quadrics is transversal to the other $n-2$ ones.
A subspace arrangement in a vector space is a finite collection of vector subspaces. Similarly, a configuration of linear spaces in a projective space is a finite collection of linear subspaces. In this paper we study the degree 2 part of the ideal of such objects. More precisely, for a generic configuration of linear spaces L we determine HF(L,2), i.e. the Hilbert function of L in degree 2.
Let D = {D_{1},...,D_{l}} be an arrangement of smooth hypersurfaces with normal crossings on the complex projective space P^n and let Ω^{1}_{P^n}(log D) be the logarithmic bundle attached to it. Following [1], we show that Ω^{1}_{P^n}(log D) admits a resolution of lenght 1 which explicitly depends on the degrees and on the equations of D_{1},...,D_{l}. Then we prove a Torelli type theorem when all the D_{i}'s have the same degree d and l >= {{n+d} \choose {d}}+3: indeed, we recover the components of D as unstable smooth hypersurfaces of Ω^{1}_{P^n}(log D). Finally we analyze the cases of one q…
Let $ \mathcal{D} = \{D_{1}, \ldots, D_{\ell}\} $ be an arrangement of smooth hypersurfaces with normal crossings on the complex projective space $ \mathbb{P}^{n} $ and let $ Ω^{1}_{\mathbb{P}^{n}}(log \mathcal{D}) $ be the logarithmic bundle attached to it. Our aim is to study the injectivity of the correspondence $ \mathcal{D} \longrightarrow Ω^{1}_{\mathbb{P}^{n}}(log \mathcal{D}) $. In order to do that, we first show that $ Ω^{1}_{\mathbb{P}^{n}}(log \mathcal{D}) $ admits a resolution of length $ 1 $ depending on the degrees and on the equations of $ D_{1}, \ldots, D_{\ell} $. Then, we pro…
In [GH], Griffiths and Harris asked whether a projective complex submanifold of codimension two is determined by the moduli of its second fundamental forms. More precisely, given a nonsingular subvariety $X^n \subset {\mathbb P}^{n+2}$, the second fundamental form $II_{X,x}$ at a point $x \in X$ is a pencil of quadrics on $T_x(X)$, defining a rational map $μ^X$ from $X$ to a suitable moduli space of pencils of quadrics on a complex vector space of dimension $n$. The question raised by Griffiths and Harris was whether the image of $μ^X$ determines $X$. We study this question when $X^n \subset {…
In this paper we classify all free actions of finite groups on Calabi-Yau complete intersection of 4 quadrics in $\PP^7$, up to projective equivalence. We get some examples of smooth Calabi-Yau threefolds with large nonabelian fundamental groups. We also observe the relation between some of these examples and moduli of polarized abelian surfaces.
We solve the following geometric problem, which arises in several three-dimensional applications in computational geometry: For which arrangements of two lines and two spheres in R^3 are there infinitely many lines simultaneously transversal to the two lines and tangent to the two spheres? We also treat a generalization of this problem to projective quadrics: Replacing the spheres in R^3 by quadrics in projective space P^3, and fixing the lines and one general quadric, we give the following complete geometric description of the set of (second) quadrics for which the 2 lines and 2 quadrics have…
Following our previous work, we develop an algorithm to compute a presentation of the fundamental group of certain partial compactifications of the complement of a complex arrangement of lines in the projective plane. It applies, in particular, to homology planes arising from arrangements of lines. This permits to determine the infinitude of the fundamental group of homology planes of log-general type that may be the first examples of this type.
In this short note we construct Calabi-Yau threefolds with nonabelian fundamental groups of order 64 as quotients of the small resolutions of certain complete intersections of quadrics in $\PP^7$ that were first considered by M. Gross and S. Popescu.
Let $\mathscr{A}$ be a real projective line arrangement and $M(\mathscr{A})$ its complement in $\mathbb{CP}^2$. We obtain an explicit expression in terms of Randell's generators of the meridians around the exceptional divisors in the blow-up $\bar{X}$ of $\mathbb{CP}^2$ in the singular points of $\mathscr{A}$. We use this to investigate the partial compactifications of $M(\mathscr{A})$ contained in $\bar{X}$ and give a counterexample to a statement suggested by A. Dimca and P. Eyssidieux to the effect that the fundamental group of such an algebraic variety is finite whenever its abelianization…
Let $X$ be a surface of degree $n$, projected onto $\mathbb{CP}^2$. The surface has a natural Galois cover with Galois group $S_n.$ It is possible to determine the fundamental group of a Galois cover from that of the complement of the branch curve of $X.$ In this paper we survey the fundamental groups of Galois covers of all surfaces of small degree $n \leq 4$, that degenerate to a nice plane arrangement, namely a union of $n$ planes such that no three planes meet in a line. We include the already classical examples of the quadric, the Hirzebruch and the Veronese surfaces and the degree $4$ em…
We prove that an etale cover Y of degree 8 of a Campedelli surface S is a complete intersection of four quadrics in P^6, obtaining as a consequence that Y is the universal cover of S, the covering group G=Gal(Y/S)is the topological fundamental group of S and that G cannot be the dihedral group of order 8. This paper patches up an incomplete manuscript of the third author.
We use the fixed point arrangement technique developed by Goresky-MacPherson to calculate the part of the equivariant cohomology of the affine flag varieties generated by degree 2. This turns out to be a quadric cone. We also describe the spectrum of the full equivariant cohomology ring as an explicit geometric object. We use our results to show that the vertices of the moment map images of the affine flag varieties lie on a paraboloid.
In a previous work, the third named author found a combinatorics of line arrangements whose realizations live in the cyclotomic group of the fifth roots of unity and such that their non-complex-conjugate embedding are not topologically equivalent in the sense that they are not embedded in the same way in the complex projective plane. That work does not imply that the complements of the arrangements are not homeomorphic. In this work we prove that the fundamental groups of the complements are not isomorphic. It provides the first example of a pair of Galois-conjugate plane curves such that the …
The fundamental group of the complement of a hyperplane arrangement in a complex vector space is an important topological invariant. The third rank of successive quotients in the lower central series of the fundamental group was called Falk invariant of the arrangement since Falk gave the first formula and asked to give a combinatorial interpretation. In this article, we give a combinatorial formula for the Falk invariant of a signed graphic arrangement that do not have a $B_2$ as sub-arrangement.
We construct two combinatorially equivalent line arrangements in the complex projective plane such that the fundamental groups of their complements are not isomorphic. The proof uses a new invariant of the fundamental group of the complement to a line arrangement of a given combinatorial type with respect to isomorphisms inducing the canonical isomorphism of the first homology groups.
The fundamental group of the complement of a hyperplane arrangement in a complex vector space is an important topological invariant. The third rank of successive quotients in the lower central series of the fundamental group was called Falk invariant of the arrangement since Falk gave the first formula and asked to give a combinatorial interpretation. In this article, we give a combinatorial formula for the Falk invariant of hyperplane arrangements attached to certain gain graphs.
One of the open questions in the geometry of line arrangements is to what extent does the incidence lattice of an arrangement determine its fundamental group. Line arrangements of up to 6 lines were recently classified by K.M. Fan, and it turns out that the incidence lattice of such arrangements determines the projective fundamental group. We use actions on the set of wiring diagrams, introduced in [GTV] (math.AG/0107178), to classify real arrangements of up to 8 lines. In particular, we show that the incidence lattice of such arrangements determines both the affine and the projective fundamen…
The complement of a complex hyperplane arrangement is known to be homotopic to a minimal CW complex. There are several approaches to the minimality. In this paper, we restrict our attention to real two dimensional cases, and introduce the "dual" objects so called minimal stratifications. The strata are explicitly described as semialgebraic sets. The stratification induces a partition of the complement into a disjoint union of contractible spaces, which is minimal in the sense that the number of codimension $k$ pieces equals the $k$-th Betti number. We also discuss presentations for the fundame…
Let C_1 and C_2 be algebraic plane curves in the complex plane such that the curves intersect in d_1\cdot d_2 points where d_1,d_2 are the degrees of the curves respectively. Oka and Sakamoto proved that the fundamental group of the complement of C_1 \cup C_2 is isomorphic to the direct of product of the fundamental group of the complement of C_1 and the fundamental group of the complement of C_2. In this paper we prove the converse of Oka and Sakamoto's result for line arrangements. Let A_1 and A_2 be non-empty arrangements of lines in complex plane such that the fundamental group of the comp…
The thirty years old programme of Griffiths and Harris of understanding higher-dimensional analogues of Poncelet-type problems and synthetic approach to higher genera addition theorems has been settled and completed in this paper. Starting with the observation of the billiard nature of some classical constructions and configurations, we construct the billiard algebra, that is a group structure on the set T of lines in $R^d$ simultaneously tangent to d-1 quadrics from a given confocal family. Using this tool, the related results of Reid, Donagi and Knoerrer are further developed, realized and s…
This is a survey of some recent developments in the study of complements of line arrangements in the complex plane. We investigate the fundamental groups and finite covers of those complements, focusing on homological and enumerative aspects. The unifying framework for this study is the stratification of the character variety of the fundamental group, G, by the jumping loci for cohomology with coefficients in rank 1 local systems. Counting certain torsion points on these "characteristic" varieties yields information about the homology of branched and unbranched covers of the complement, as wel…
A conjugation-free geometric presentation of a fundamental group is a presentation with the natural topological generators $x_1, ..., x_n$ and the cyclic relations: $x_{i_k}x_{i_{k-1}} ... x_{i_1} = x_{i_{k-1}} ... x_{i_1} x_{i_k} = ... = x_{i_1} x_{i_k} ... x_{i_2}$ with no conjugations on the generators. We have already proved that if the graph of the arrangement is a disjoint union of cycles, then its fundamental group has a conjugation-free geometric presentation. In this paper, we extend this property to arrangements whose graphs are a disjoint union of cycle-tree graphs. Moreover, we stu…
We show that quasi-projective Bestvina-Brady groups are fundamental groups of complements to hyperplane arrangements. Furthermore we relate other normal subgroups of right-angled Artin groups to complements to arrangements of hypersurfaces. We thus obtain examples of hypersurface complements whose fundamental groups satisfy various finiteness properties.
We consider the class of quasiprojective varieties admitting a dominant morphism onto a curve with negative Euler characteristic. The existence of such a morphism is a property of the fundamental group. We show that for a variety in this class the number of maps onto a hyperbolic curve or surfaces can be estimated in terms of the numerical invariants of the fundamental group. We use this estimates to find the number of biholomorphic automorphisms of complements to some arrangements of lines.
We survey interactions between the topology and the combinatorics of complex hyperplane arrangements. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we examine in this setting combinatorial aspects of fundamental groups, associated graded Lie algebras, higher homotopy groups, cohomology rings, twisted homology with rank 1 complex coefficients, and Milnor fibers.
We prove similar theorems concerning the structure of bundles involving complements of fiber-type hyperplane arrangements and orbit configuration spaces. These results facilitate analysis of the fundamental groups of these spaces, which may be viewed as generalizations of the Artin pure braid group. In particular, we resolve two disparate conjectures. We show that the Whitehead group of the fundamental group of the complement of a fiber-type arrangement is trivial, as conjectured by Aravinda, Farrell, and Rouchon. For the orbit configuration space corresponding to the natural action of a finit…
Following the general strategy proposed by G.Rybnikov, we present a proof of his well-known result, that is, the existence of two arrangements of lines having the same combinatorial type, but non-isomorphic fundamental groups. To do so, the Alexander Invariant and certain invariants of combinatorial line arrangements are presented and developed for combinatorics with only double and triple points. This is part of a more general project to better understand the relationship between topology and combinatorics of line arrangements.
Let A be an arrangement of complex hyperplanes. The fundamental group of the complement of A is determined by a braid monodromy homomorphism from a finitely generated free group to the pure braid group. Using the Gassner representation of the pure braid group, we find an explicit presentation for the Alexander invariant of A. From this presentation, we obtain combinatorial lower bounds for the ranks of the Chen groups of A. We also provide a combinatorial criterion for when these lower bounds are attained.
Let $B$ be an arrangement of linear complex hyperplanes in $C^d$. Then a classical result by Orlik \& Solomon asserts that the cohomology algebra of the complement can be constructed from the combinatorial data that are given by the intersection lattice. If $B'$ is, more generally, a $2$-arrangement in $R^{2d}$ (an arrangement of real subspaces of codimension $2$ with even-dimensional intersections), then the intersection lattice still determines the cohomology {\it groups} of the complement, as was shown by Goresky \& MacPherson. We prove, however, that for $2$-arrangements the cohomology {\i…
For an arrangement with complement X and fundamental group G, we relate the truncated cohomology ring, H^{<=2}(X), to the second nilpotent quotient, G/G_3. We define invariants of G/G_3 by counting normal subgroups of a fixed prime index p, according to their abelianization. We show how to compute this distribution from the resonance varieties of the Orlik-Solomon algebra mod p. As an application, we establish the cohomology classification of 2-arrangements of n<=6 planes in R^4.
We show that the fundamental group of the complement of an arrangement of complex lines in the complex plane is a free group if and only if the arrangement is a union of parallel lines.
We determine the Waring rank of the fundamental skew invariant of any complex reflection group whose highest degree is a regular number. This includes all irreducible real reflection groups.
We define a new topological invariant of line arrangements in the complex projective plane. This invariant is a root of unity defined under some combinatorial restrictions for arrangements endowed with some special torsion character on the fundamental group of their complements. It is derived from the peripheral structure on the group induced by the inclusion map of the boundary of a tubular neigborhood in the exterior of the arrangement. By similarity with knot theory, it can be viewed as an analogue of linking numbers. This is an orientation-preserving invariant for ordered arrangements. We …
We study the topology of the boundary manifold of a line arrangement in CP^2, with emphasis on the fundamental group G and associated invariants. We determine the Alexander polynomial Delta(G), and more generally, the twisted Alexander polynomial associated to the abelianization of G and an arbitrary complex representation. We give an explicit description of the unit ball in the Alexander norm, and use it to analyze certain Bieri-Neumann-Strebel invariants of G. From the Alexander polynomial, we also obtain a complete description of the first characteristic variety of G. Comparing this with th…
We reformulate a fundamental result due to Cook, Harbourne, Migliore and Nagel on the existence and irreduciblity of unexpected plane curves of a set of points $Z$ in $\mathbb{P}^2$, using the minimal degree of a Jacobian syzygy of the defining equation for the dual line arrangement $\mathcal A_Z$. Several applications of this new approach are given. In particular, we show that the irreducible unexpected quintics may occur only when the set $Z$ has the cardinality equal to 11 or 12, and describe five cases where this happens.
Two arrangements with the same combinatorial intersection lattice but whose complements have different fundamental groups are called a Zariski pair. This work finds that there are at most nine such pairs amongst all ten line arrangements whose intersection points are doubles or triples. This result is obtained by considering the moduli space of a given configuration table which describes the intersection lattice. A complete combinatorial classification is given of all arrangements of this type under a suitable assumption, producing a list of seventy-one described in a table, most of which do n…
Conjectures of Suciu relate the fundamental group of the complement M = C^n\A of a hyperplane arrangement A to the first resonance variety of H^*(M,Z). We describe a connection between the first resonance variety and the Orlik-Terao algebra C(A) of the arrangement. In particular, we show that non-local components of R^1(A) give rise to determinantal syzygies of C(A). As a result, Proj(C(A)) lies on a scroll, placing geometric constraints on R^1(A). The key observation is that C(A) is the homogeneous coordinate ring associated to a nef but not ample divisor on the blowup of P^2 at the singular …
Wiring diagrams usually serve as a tool in the study of arrangements of lines and pseudolines. In this paper we go in the opposite direction, using known properties of line arrangements to motivate certain equivalence relations and actions on sets of wiring diagrams, which preserve the incidence lattice and the fundamental groups of the affine and projective complements of the diagrams. These actions are used in [GTV] to classify real arrangements of up to 8 lines and show that in this case, the incidence lattice determines both the affine and the projective fundamental groups.
For line arrangements in P^2 with nice combinatorics (in particular, for those which are nodal away the line at infinity), we prove that the combinatorics contains the same information as the fundamental group together with the meridianal basis of the abelianization. We consider higher dimensional analogs of the above situation. For these analogs, we give purely combinatorial complete descriptions of the following topological invariants (over an arbitrary field): the twisted homology of the complement, with arbitrary rank one coefficients; the homology of the associated Milnor fiber and Alexan…
Consider a complex projective space with its Fubini-Study metric. We study certain one parameter deformations of this metric on the complement of an arrangement (=a finite union of hyperplanes) whose Levi-Civita connection is of Dunkl type--interesting examples are obtained from the arrangements defined by finite complex reflection groups. We determine a parameter interval for which the metric is locally of Fubini-Study type, flat, or complex-hyperbolic. We find a finite subset of this interval for which we get a complete orbifold or at least a Zariski open subset thereof, and we analyze these…
To a plane algebraic curve of degree n, Moishezon associated a braid monodromy homomorphism from a finitely generated free group to Artin's braid group B_n. Using Hansen's polynomial covering space theory, we give a new interpretation of this construction. Next, we provide an explicit description of the braid monodromy of an arrangement of complex affine hyperplanes, by means of an associated ``braided wiring diagram.'' The ensuing presentation of the fundamental group of the complement is shown to be Tietze-I equivalent to the Randell-Arvola presentation. Work of Libgober then implies that th…
We study the homotopy groups of complements to reducible divisors on non-singular projective varieties with ample components and isolated non normal crossings. We prove a vanishing theorem generalizing conditions for commutativity of the fundamental groups. The calculation of supports of non vanishing homotopy groups as modules over the fundamental group in terms of the geometry of the locus of non-normal crossings is discussed. We review previous work on the local study of isolated non-normal crossings and relate the motivic zeta function to the local polytopes of quasiadjunction. As an appli…
Let $X(Δ)$ be the real toric variety associated to a smooth fan $Δ$. The main purpose of this article is: (i) to determine the fundamental group and the universal cover of $X(Δ)$, (ii) to give necessary and sufficient conditions on $Δ$ under which $π_1(X(Δ))$ is abelian, (iii) to give necessary and sufficient conditions on $Δ$ under which $X(Δ)$ is aspherical, and when $Δ$ is complete, (iv) to give necessary and sufficient conditions for $\cc_Δ$ to be a $K(π,1)$ space where $\cc_Δ$ is the complement of a real subspace arrangement associated to $Δ$.
Let $X$ be an algebraic surface of degree $5$, which is considered as a branch cover of $\mathbb{CP}^2$ with respect to a generic projection. The surface has a natural Galois cover with Galois group $S_5$. In this paper, we deal with the fundamental groups of Galois covers of degree $5$ surfaces that degenerate to nice plane arrangements; each of them is a union of five planes such that no three planes meet in a line.
Let us say that a map of arcwise connected topological spaces (having the homotopy type of CW-complexes) is a pseudo-homeomorphism if it induces an isomorphism of the first integer homology groups and an epimorphism of the second integer homology groups. We prove that any invariant of a topological space w.r.t. pseudo-homeomorphisms is an invariant of the fundamental group of this space. We also describe a necessary condition for the fundamental groups to be distinguished by such invariants. As an example we show that the invariant used in math.AG/9805056 to distinguish the fundamental groups …