Arrangements and local systems

We use stratified Morse theory to construct a complex to compute the cohomology of the complement of a hyperplane arrangement with coefficients in a complex rank one local system. The linearization of this complex is shown to be the Orlik-Solomon algebra with the connection operator. Using this result, we establish the relationship between the cohomology support loci of the complement and the resonance varieties of the Orlik-Solomon algebra for any arrangement, and show that the latter are unions of subspace arrangements in general, resolving a conjecture of Falk. We also obtain lower bounds for the local system Betti numbers in terms of those of the Orlik-Solomon algebra, recovering a result of Libgober and Yuzvinsky. For certain local systems, our results provide new combinatorial upper bounds on the local system Betti numbers. These upper bounds enable us to prove that in non-resonant systems the cohomology is concentrated in the top dimension, without using resolution of singularities.Comment: LaTeX, 14 page

Broken circuit complexes and hyperplane arrangements

We study Stanley-Reisner ideals of broken circuits complexes and characterize those ones admitting a linear resolution or being complete intersections. These results will then be used to characterize arrangements whose Orlik-Terao ideal has the same properties. As an application, we improve a result of Wilf on upper bounds for the coefficients of the chromatic polynomial of a maximal planar graph. We also show that for an ordered matroid with disjoint minimal broken circuits, the supersolvability of the matroid is equivalent to the Koszulness of its Orlik-Solomon algebra.Comment: 21 page

Note on resonance varieties

We study the irreducibility of resonance varieties of graded rings over an exterior algebra E with particular attention to Orlik-Solomon algebras. We prove that for a stable monomial ideal in E the first resonance variety is irreducible. If J is an Orlik- Solomon ideal of an essential central hyperplane arrangement, then we show that its first resonance variety is irreducible if and only if the subideal of J generated by all degree 2 elements has a 2-linear resolution. As an application we characterize those hyperplane arrangements of rank less than or equal to 3 where J is componentwise linear. Higher resonance varieties are also considered. We prove results supporting a conjecture of Schenck-Suciu relating the Betti numbers of the linear strand of J and its first resonance variety. A counter example is constructed that this conjecture is not true for arbitrary graded ideals

The Orlik-Solomon model for hypersurface arrangements

We develop a model for the cohomology of the complement of a hypersurface arrangement inside a smooth projective complex variety. This generalizes the case of normal crossing divisors, discovered by P. Deligne in the context of the mixed Hodge theory of smooth complex varieties. Our model is a global version of the Orlik-Solomon algebra, which computes the cohomology of the complement of a union of hyperplanes in an affine space. The main tool is the complex of logarithmic forms along a hypersurface arrangement, and its weight filtration. Connections with wonderful compactifications and the configuration spaces of points on curves are also studied.Comment: 23 pages; presentation simplified, results unchange

On the cohomology of discriminantal arrangements and Orlik-Solomon algebras

We relate the cohomology of the Orlik-Solomon algebra of a discriminantal arrangement to the local system cohomology of the complement. The Orlik-Solomon algebra of such an arrangement (viewed as a complex) is shown to be a linear approximation of a complex arising from the fundamental group of the complement, the cohomology of which is isomorphic to that of the complement with coefficients in an arbitrary complex rank one local system. We also establish the relationship between the cohomology support loci of the complement of a discriminantal arrangement and the resonant varieties of its Orlik-Solomon algebra.Comment: LaTeX2e, 16 pages, to appear in Singularities and Arrangements, Sapporo-Tokyo 1998, Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematic