Higher homotopy groups of complements of complex hyperplane arrangements

Abstract: We generalize results of Hattori on the topology of complements of hyperplane arrangements, from the class of generic arrangements, to the much broader class of hypersolvable arrangements. We show that the higher homotopy groups of the complement vanish in a certain combinatorially determined range, and we give an explicit Zpi_1-module presentation of pi_p, the first non-vanishing higher homotopy group. We also give a combinatorial formula for the pi_1-coinvariants of pi_p. For affine line arrangements whose cones are hypersolvable, we provide a minimal resolution of pi_2, and study some of the properties of this module. For graphic arrangements associated to graphs with no 3-cycles, we obtain information on pi_2, directly from the graph. The pi_1-coinvariants of pi_2 may distinguish the homotopy 2-types of arrangement complements with the same pi_1, and the same Betti numbers in low degrees.

Review text

The class of hypersolvable arrangements forms a common generalization of supersolvable, or fiber-type, arrangements and general position arrangements. The class has a natural combinatorial definition, given by \textit{M. Jambu} and \textit{S. Papadima} in [Topology 37, 1135-1164 (1998; Zbl 0988.52031)]. A hypersolvable arrangement \(\mathcal A\) can be constructed iteratively: \({\mathcal A}=\bigcup_{i=1}^n {\mathcal A}_i\) where \({\mathcal A}_1\) is a 1-arrangement, and each \({\mathcal A}_{i+1}\) is a modular extension or the truncation of a modular extension of \({\mathcal A}_i\). In [Topology Appl. 118, 103-111 (2002; Zbl 0995.32017)], \textit{M. Jambu} and \textit{S. Papadima} showed that there exists a supersolvable arrangement \(\bar{\mathcal A}\) having \(\mathcal A\) as a linear section, generic through codimension two. In particular, the complements of \({\mathcal A}\) and \(\bar{\mathcal A}\) have isomorphic fundamental groups, and \({\bar{\mathcal A}}\) has aspherical complement. In the paper under review, this structure theory is used to analyze the first nontrivial higher homotopy groups of hypersolvable arrangements. The results form a natural generalization of classical results of Hattori on the homotopy types of complements of general position arrangements. The authors give combinatorial formulas for the smallest \(k\geq 2\) for which the homotopy group \(\pi_k(X)\) of the complement \(X\) is nonzero, and for the rank of \(\pi_k(X)\) as a \(\pi_1(X)\)-module. They give a presentation, and, in some cases, a free resolution, of \(\pi_k(X)\) as a \(\pi_1(X)\)-module, and a combinatorial description of the covariants. The formulation involves comparison of the Poincaré polynomial of the quadratic Orlik-Solomon algebra with that of \(H^*(X)\). A crucial technical tool is the existence of minimal cell decompositions for hyperplane complements, that is, \(CW\) decompositions for which the number of \(i\)-cells is equal to the \(i\)-th Betti number. This allows a description of the first nontrivial skeleton in a cell decomposition of the universal cover of \(X\) as a subcomplex of a cell decomposition of the universal cover of the complement of the supersolvable arrangement \(\bar{\mathcal A}\). The latter complex can be constructed using the iterated semidirect product structure of the fundamental group. The prototype for this is Hattori's realization of the homotopy type of a general position arrangement of \(n\) hyperplanes in \({\mathbb C}^n\) as the \(k\)-skeleton of the \(n\)-torus. The techniques are demonstrated with examples of hypersolvable rank-three arrangements, where precise calculations of the second homotopy group are given, and of hypersolvable graphic arrangements.

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