The fundamental group of complex hyperplanes arrangements (Q1376651)

Let \({\mathcal A}=\{H_1, \ldots, H_n\}\) be an arrangement of affine lines in \({\mathbb C}^2\), and let \(M={\mathbb C}^2 - \bigcup_{1\leq i \leq n} H_i.\) A presentation of the fundamental group of \(M\) was given by \textit{R. Randell} [Invent. Math. 69, 103-108 (1982; Zbl 0505.14017), correction ibid. 80, 467-468 (1985)] in case \(\mathcal A\) is a complexified real arrangement, and his method was generalized to arbitrary complex arrangements by \textit{W. A. Arvola} [Topology 31, No. 4, 757-765 (1992; Zbl 0772.57001)]. In the paper under review, the authors use a different method to derive a fundamental group presentation in the general case. In Randell's and Arvola's works, the presentation is based on a ``braided wiring diagram'' model of the arrangement, a braid in \({\mathbb R}^3\) with singularities corresponding to intersections of the lines \(H_i\). The presentation has generators represented by meridional loops around the lines \(H_i\), or around the strands of the braid. The generators undergo conjugations as they are passed through crossings and singular points of the braided wiring diagram, and in addition the singularities give rise to sets of commutation relations. In the paper under review, the braided wiring diagram is replaced by a different type of template of the arrangement, from which to read off the presentation. This is the ``labyrinth'' \(\mathcal L\) of the arrangement, a real affine arrangement in \({\mathbb R}^2\), consisting of the lines \(L_{ij}\) defined by \(\text{Re}(\alpha_i(x))=\text{Re}(\alpha_j(x))\), where \(H_i\) is defined by \(y=\alpha_i(x)\). One attaches a free group on \(n\) generators to each chamber of \(\mathcal L\). The generators undergo conjugation as one crosses the lines \(L_{ij}\) from chamber to chamber, and intersection points of \(\mathcal A\) give rise to sets of commutation relations as in the Randell-Arvola presentation. This method has the advantage that it is easier to derive by hand the labyrinth \(\mathcal L\) of \(\mathcal A\) than the braided wiring diagram. The disadvantages are two: the size of the labyrinth grows quadratically with the size of the arrangement, and, in order to satisfy the requirement that the \(L_{ij}\) be distinct, it is necessary to perturb the arrangement to break all symmetries in the defining equations. In particular, this method cannot be applied directly to complexified real arrangements except in the trivial (general position) case.