arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Matei.
We show that quasi-projective Bestvina-Brady groups are fundamental groups of complements to hyperplane arrangements. Furthermore we relate other normal subgroups of right-angled Artin groups to complements to arrangements of hypersurfaces. We thus obtain examples of hypersurface complements whose fundamental groups satisfy various finiteness properties.
We examine the first non-vanishing higher homotopy group, $π_p$, of the complement of a hypersolvable, non--supersolvable, complex hyperplane arrangement, as a module over the group ring of the fundamental group, $\Zπ_1$. We give a presentation for the $I$--adic completion of $π_p$. We deduce that the second nilpotent $I$--adic quotient of $π_p$ is determined by the combinatorics of the arrangement, and we give a combinatorial formula for the second associated graded piece, $\gr^1_I π_p$. We relate the torsion of this graded piece to the dimensions of the minimal generating systems of the Orlik--Solomon ideal of the arrangement $\A$ in degree $p+2$, for various field coefficients. When $\A$ is associated to a finite simple graph, we show that $\gr^1_I π_p$ is torsion--free, with rank explicitly computable from the graph.
We prove that the irreducible components of the characteristic varieties of quasi-projective manifolds are either pull-backs of such components for orbifolds, or torsion points. This gives an interpretation for the so-called \emph{translated} components of the characteristic varieties, and shows that the zero-dimensional components are indeed torsion. The main result is used to derive further obstructions for a group to be the fundamental group of a quasi-projective manifold.
We discuss properties of complex algebraic orbifold groups, their characteristic varieties, and their abelian covers. In particular, we deal with the question of (quasi)-projectivity of orbifold groups. We also prove a structure theorem for the variety of characters of normal-crossing quasi-projective orbifold groups. Finally, we extend Sakuma's formula for the first Betti number of abelian covers of orbifold fundamental groups. Several examples are presented, including a compact orbifold group which is not projective and a Zariski pair of plane projective curves that can be told by considering an unbranched cover of the projective plane with an orbifold structure.
We give a necessary and sufficient condition in order for a hyperplane arrangement to be of Torelli type, namely that it is recovered as the set of unstable hyperplanes of its Dolgachev sheaf of logarithmic differentials. Decompositions and semistability of non-Torelli arrangements are investigated.
We consider the problem of deciding if a group is the fundamental group of a smooth connected complex quasi-projective (or projective) variety using Alexander-based invariants. In particular, we solve the problem for large families of Artin-Tits groups. We also study finiteness properties of such groups and exhibit examples of hyperplane complements whose fundamental groups satisfy $\text{F}_{k-1}$ but not $\text{F}_k$ for any $k$.
For a link $L$ in the 3-sphere and for a prime $p$, we express the $p$-primary information on the first homology group of $p^{m}$-fold branched covers of $L$ in terms of its $p$-adic Milnor higher linking invariants, using the completed Alexander module of the pro-$p$ completion of the link group of $L$.
We show that, in general, there exist non-vanishing triple Massey products in the cohomology with finite field coefficients of a complex hypersurface complement. In contrast, the Massey products, triple and higher, in the rational cohomology of such a space are all known to vanish.
We present a method for computing the number of epimorphisms from a finitely-presented group G to a finite solvable group Γ, which generalizes a formula of Gäschutz. Key to this approach are the degree 1 and 2 cohomology groups of G, with certain twisted coefficients. As an application, we count low-index subgroups of G. We also investigate the finite solvable quotients of the Baumslag-Solitar groups, the Baumslag parafree groups, and the Artin braid groups.
Given a finitely-generated group G, and a finite group Γ, Philip Hall defined δ_Γto be the number of factor groups of G that are isomorphic to Γ. We show how to compute the Hall invariants by cohomological and combinatorial methods, when G is finitely-presented, and Γbelongs to a certain class of metabelian groups. Key to this approach is the stratification of the character variety by the jumping loci of the cohomology of G, with coefficients in rank 1 local systems over a suitably chosen field \K. Counting relevant torsion points on these "characteristic" subvarieties gives δ_Γ(G). In the process, we compute the distribution of prime-index, normal subgroups K of G according to the dimension of the the first homology group of K with \K coefficients, provided \char\K does not divide the index of K in G. In turn, we use this distribution to count low-index subgroups of G. We illustrate these techniques in the case when G is the fundamental group of the complement of an arrangement of either affine lines in \C^2, or transverse planes in \R^4.
For an arrangement with complement X and fundamental group G, we relate the truncated cohomology ring, H^{<=2}(X), to the second nilpotent quotient, G/G_3. We define invariants of G/G_3 by counting normal subgroups of a fixed prime index p, according to their abelianization. We show how to compute this distribution from the resonance varieties of the Orlik-Solomon algebra mod p. As an application, we establish the cohomology classification of 2-arrangements of n<=6 planes in R^4.
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.