Fundamental groups of algebraic fiber spaces (Q1405752)

Summary: Let \(f:E\to B\) be a dominant morphism, where \(E\) and \(B\) are smooth irreducible complex quasi-projective varieties. Suppose that the general fiber \(F_b\) of \(f\) is connected. We present an algebro-geometric condition under which the boundary homomorphism \(\partial : \pi_2(B) \to \pi_1(F_b)\) is well-defined, and makes the sequence \[ \pi_2(B) \to \pi_1(F_b) \to \pi_1(E) \to \pi_1(B) \to 1 \] exact. As an application, we calculate the fundamental group of the complement to the dual hypersurface of a smooth projective curve.