Hirzebruch-type inequalities viewed as tools in combinatorics (Q2223461): Difference between revisions

Hirzebruch's inequality for complex line arrangements in the projective plane is an important tool in solving numerous problems in combinatorial geometry. For example, it can be applied in the context of Sylvester-Gallai type theorem over the complex numbers, a problem of J.~P.~Serre (See [\textit{L. M. Kelly}, Discrete Comput. Geom. 1, 101--104 (1986; Zbl 0593.51002)]). However there is no known elementary proof of this inequality. The inequality is obtained as a by-product of Hirzebruch's construction, the Hirzebruch-Kummer cover of the complex projective plane branched along an arrangement of lines, which allowed him to construct new examples of algebraic surfaces of general type, so-called ball-quotients. The author in this survey article introduces Hirzebruch's inequality and stronger Hirzebruch's type inequalities which follow from Langer's inequality such as the inequality due to Bojanowksi (\url{http://www.mimuw.edu.pl/\%7Ealan/postscript/bojanowski.ps}). He presents an accessible outline of \textit{F. Hirzebruch}'s paper [Prog. Math. 36, 113--140 (1983; Zbl 0527.14033)] and other stronger Hirzebruch-type inequalities which allowed researchers to make progress on classical conjectures in combinatorics. Three applications are mentioned. (1): The Weak Dirac Conjecture that holds with \(c=3\), (2): If \(\mathcal{P}\) is a subset of \(n\) distinct points in \(\mathbb{C}^2\) with at most \(\frac{2n}{3}\) collinear then \(\mathcal{P}\) determines at least \(\frac{n(n+15)}{18} \approx \frac{n^2}{18}\) lines with at most four points on each of them. (3) (a): Let \(\mathcal{L}\) be a simplicial line arrangement in \(\mathbb{P}^2(\mathbb{R})\) such that \(t_2\geq t_3\) and \(t_i=0\) for \(i\not\in \{2,3,x\}\). Then \(x\leq 8\). (3) (b): Let \(\mathcal{L}\) be a simplicial line arrangement in \(\mathbb{P}^2(\mathbb{R})\) then \(\max(t_2,t_3)>\lceil \frac{d^2+3d}{27} \rceil\). Later the author presents some natural generalizations of Hirzebruch's inequality for line arrangements in the context of higher degree plane curves. Two applications in \(d\)-arrangements, one application in conic-line arrangements and an application in pseudoline arrangements are mentioned. Finally the problem of obtaining Hirzebruch's inequality is translated in the language of tropical geometry and the author poses the following two questions: (1): Is it possible to show a Hirzebruch-type inequality using the language of tropical geometry, or its tropical variation? (2): Is it possible to find tropical analogues of the Bogomolov-Miyaoka-Yau inequality?