On the fundamental group of complex hyperplane arrangements: lower central series and Chen groups (Q2569324)

The fundamental group \(\pi_{1}(X)\) of a topological space \(X\) is an important topological invariant of \(X.\) In this paper, the author considers only the particular case of the complements of some algebraic complex hypersurfaces and more precisely of hyperplane arrangements. This paper is a survey of some recent developments in the study of the fundamental group \(G(A)\) of the complement of the complex hyperplane arrangement \(A.\) The direct sum of the lower central series quotients of \(G(A)\) is a graded Lie algebra. For the class of hypersolvable arrangements which includes the class of fiber-type, generic and braid arrangements, it is possible to make an explicit calculation. The Chen groups of \(G(A)\) are the lower central series quotients of its maximal metabelian quotient. After a short introduction to arrangements of hyperplanes, the author recalls the Magnus theory relating groups theory and Lie algebras theory. He introduces the Chen groups and, following Cohen and Suciu, gives some examples showing that Chen groups allow to distinguish non isomorphic groups which cannot be distinguish by means of lower central series.