Torsion in Milnor fiber homology

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Abstract: In a recent paper, Dimca and Nemethi pose the problem of finding a homogeneous polynomial f such that the homology of the complement of the hypersurface defined by f is torsion-free, but the homology of the Milnor fiber of f has torsion. We prove that this is indeed possible, and show by construction that, for each prime p, there is a polynomial with p-torsion in the homology of the Milnor fiber. The techniques make use of properties of characteristic varieties of hyperplane arrangements.


Let \(f:(\mathbb{C}^{\ell+1},\mathbf{0})\to (\mathbb{C},0)\) be a homogeneous polynomial. Denote by \(M= \mathbb{C}^{\ell+1}\setminus f^{-1}(0)\) the complement of the hypersurface defined by the vanishing of \(f\), and let \(F= f^{-1}(1)\) be the Milnor fiber of the bundle map \(f:M\to \mathbb{C}^*\). In this paper the authors construct examples of such \(f\), for which the integral homology of \(M\) is not torsion free, but for which the integral homology of \(F\) is torsion free. This answers a question of Dimca and Némethi negatively. In fact they give examples for \(p\)-torsion for every prime number \(p\). The beautiful examples the authors construct are products of powers of linear factors, so that they give multi-arrangements of hyperplanes. The result is a consequence of similar results for multi-arrangements.











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