Moduli of weighted hyperplane arrangements. Edited by Gilberto Bini, Martí Lahoz, Emanuele Macrì and Paolo Stellari (Q2348066)

The author presents an overview of the theory of hyperplane arrangements, starting with the basic background which covers several fundamental topics in Algebraic Geometry. The data of an arrangement is provided by a matrix \(M\), whose columns represent equations for the hyperplanes in the arrangement. As such, there is a toric action on the matrix (\(\mathbb C^*\) multiplication on columns) which fixes the arrangement. Isomorphism classes of arrangements are also invariant under a PGL action on \(M\). Thus, Moduli spaces of hyperplane arrangements are defined via two quotients, in the space of non-singular matrices. In a series of chapters, the author revisits the theory of toric varieties and their polytopes and the theory of matroids. Then, he shows applications to the geometric invariant theory of stable hyperplane arrangements (shas), where stability is closely linked to the singularities of the arrangement, which are log-subcanonical for semistable shas. The author then focuses on the geography of shas of dimension \(1,2\), in projective spaces of low dimension. The book is obviously far from being self-contained. The theory requires non-trivial results on toric varieties and matroids, as well as the basic principles of GIT, which are simply outlined through the book. On the other hand, the book provides a pattern for the study of a topic which links combinatorial problems to deep methods in Algebraic Geometry. Examples give an instance of computations performed in a suitable geometric compactification of spaces which classify combinatorial objects.