Alexander invariants of complex hyperplane arrangements (Q4257573)

Let \(A=\{H_1,\dots,H_n\}\) be an arrangement of hyperplanes in \(\mathbb{C}^d\), with complement \(M=\mathbb{C}^d\setminus\bigcup_{i=1}^nH_i\) and group \(G=\pi_1(M)\). Let \(M'\) be the maximal Abelian cover, corresponding to the Abelianization \(ab\colon G\to\mathbb{Z}^n\). The object of this study is the Alexander invariant, \(B(A)=H_1(M')\), viewed as a module over the ring \(\Lambda\) of Laurent polynomials \(\Lambda=\mathbb{Z}[[t_1^{\pm 1},\dots,t_n^{\pm 1}]]\), with \(t_i\) corresponding to a standardly oriented meridional loop around \(H_i\). The fundamental group of the complement of \(A\) is determined by a braid monodromy homomorphism \(\alpha\colon F_s\to P_n\). Using the Gassner representation of the pure braid group, the authors find an explicit presentation for the Alexander invariant of \(A\). From this presentation, they obtain combinatorial lower bounds for the ranks of the Chen groups of \(A\), and also provide a combinatorial criterion for when these lower bounds are attained. Corollary 1.10. The ranks of the Chen groups of \(G=\pi_1(M_1\times M_2)\) are given by \(\theta_k(G)=\theta_k(G_1)+\theta_k(G_2)\), where \(G_i=\pi_1(M_i)\). Theorem 5.3. The Alexander invariant of an arrangement \(A\), with braid monodromy generators \(A_{V_1}^{\delta_1},\dots,A_{V_s}^{\delta_s}\), has presentation \(K_1\to K_0\to B(A)\to 0\), where \(K_1=\bigoplus_{k=1}^sC_1(V_k')\oplus C_3\), \(K_0=C_2\), and \(\Delta=(\Phi d_3)^\top\), with \(\Phi|_{C_1(V_k')}=\Theta_2(\delta_k)\circ\Phi_k\).