Homotopy types of complements of 2-arrangements in R^4

DOI10.1016/S0040-9383(98)00058-5MaRDI QIDQ1806113zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors D. Matei, Alexander I. Suciu

Publication date 8 February 2000

Published in Topology (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/9712251

zbMATH Keywords

arrangementbraidcharacteristic varietyline configurationlink

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Determinantal varieties (14M12) Braid groups; Artin groups (20F36) Arrangements of points, flats, hyperplanes (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C35) Duality in algebraic topology (55M05) Classification of homotopy type (55P15) General low-dimensional topology (57M99)

Abstract: We study the homotopy types of complements of arrangements of n transverse planes in R^4, obtaining a complete classification for n <= 6, and lower bounds for the number of homotopy types in general. Furthermore, we show that the homotopy type of a 2-arrangement in R^4 is not determined by the cohomology ring, thereby answering a question of Ziegler. The invariants that we use are derived from the characteristic varieties of the complement. The nature of these varieties illustrates the difference between real and complex arrangements.

Review text

Given a space \(X\) with \(H_1(X)\) isomorphic to \({\mathbb Z}^n\), the \(k\)-th determinantal ideal of the Alexander module of \(X\) defines a subvariety, \(V_k(X)\), of the complex algebraic torus, \({\mathbb C^*}^n\), called the \(k\)th characteristic variety of \(X\). The monomial isomorphism type of this variety is known to depend only on the homotopy type of \(X\) (in fact, only on \(\pi_1(X)\)). Using this fact, certain homotopy-type invariants are derived, and applied to complements of 2-arrangements in \({\mathbb R}^4\) (that is, complements of arrangements of transverse planes in \({\mathbb R}^4\)). It is shown that it is possible to compute these invariants using standard methods in geometric topology and commutative algebra, and also that these numerical invariants are powerful enough to yield the following main results: For every integer \(n \geq 1\), there exist at least \(p(n-1) - \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \rfloor\) different homotopy types of complements of 2-arrangements of \(n\) planes in \({\mathbb R}^4\), where \(p\) is the partition function. For every integer \(n \geq 6\), there exists a pair of 2-arrangements of \(n\) planes in \({\mathbb R}^4\), whose complements have isomorphic cohomology rings, but different homotopy types (this answers a question posed by \textit{G. M. Ziegler} in [Math. Z. 212, No. 1, 1-11 (1993; Zbl 0789.57018)]). For 2-arrangements of \(n \leq 6\) planes in \({\mathbb R}^4\), the homotopy types of complements are in one-to-one correspondence with the rigid isotopy types modulo mirror images.

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Cited in

(10)

• Homotopy types of line arrangements
• Cup products, lower central series, and holonomy Lie algebras
• Taylor expansions of groups and filtered-formality
• Formality properties of finitely generated groups and Lie algebras
• Topology and geometry of cohomology jump loci
• Spindle-configurations of skew lines
• $4$ planes in ${\mathbb R}^4$
• Translated tori in the characteristic varieties of complex hyperplane arrangements
• Alexander invariants and cohomology jump loci in group extensions
• On the homology groups of arrangements of complex planes of codimension two

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