Zariski-van Kampen theorems for singular varieties -- an approach via the relative monodromy variation (Q2312751)

Let \(X\subseteq\mathbb{P}^n\) be a quasi-projective variety and \(L\subseteq\mathbb{P}^n\) a general hyperplane such that the pair \(\left(X,X\cap L\right)\) is \(1\)-connected. The main goal of the present paper is to understand the kernel of the surjective map \[\pi_1\left(X\cap L\right)\twoheadrightarrow\pi_1\left(X\right),\] generalizing the Zariski-van Kampen theorem for \(X=\mathbb{P}^2\setminus C\) the complement of a plane algebraic curve, as well as some previous generalizations of the first author to certain singular varieties [\textit{C. Eyral}, Topology 43, No. 4, 749--764 (2004; Zbl 1060.14030)]. These previous results show that the kernel is generated by the images of certain standard monodromy operators \[\pi_1\left(X\cap L\right)\stackrel{\cong}{\rightarrow}\pi_1\left(X\cap L\right)\] associated to a general pencil \(\Pi=\left\{L_{\lambda}\right\}_{\lambda\in\mathbb{P}^1}\) of hyperplanes containing \(L\) such that the base locus \(\Pi_0\) of \(\Pi\) does not intersect \(X\). The generalizations in this paper allow to handle the case \(\Pi_0\cap X\neq\emptyset\) by considering the \textbf{relative} monodromy operators, already introduced by the first author and \textit{D. Chéniot} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 358, No. 1, 1--10 (2006; Zbl 1086.14015)], which are induced by isotopies fixing the set \(\Pi_0\cap X\) pointwise. The main result of the paper is Theorem 3.6, which states that for possibly singular \(X\) and a general pencil \(\Pi\) satisfying certain technical conditions, the kernel is indeed generated by the images of the relative monodromy operators. The case of smooth \(X\) is handled in Theorem 3.5, and actually follows from Theorem 3.6, assuming that all components of \(X\) have dimension at least \(2\).