On fundamental groups of plane curve complements

In this paper we discuss some properties of fundamental groups and Alexander polynomials of plane curves. We discuss the relationship of the non-triviality of Alexander polynomials and the notion of (nearly) freeness for irreducible plane curves. We reprove and restate in modern terms a somewhat forgotten result of Zariski. Finally, we describe some topological properties of curves with abelian fundamental group

Cartier and Weil Divisors on Varieties with Quotient Singularities

The main goal of this paper is to show that the notions of Weil and Cartier $\mathbb{Q}$-divisors coincide for $V$-manifolds and give a procedure to express a rational Weil divisor as a rational Cartier divisor. The theory is illustrated on weighted projective spaces and weighted blow-ups.Comment: 16 page

On the connection between fundamental groups and pencils with multiple fibers

We present two results about the relationship between fundamental groups of quasiprojective manifolds and linear systems on a projectivization. We prove the existence of a plane curve with non-abelian fundamental group of the complement which does not admit a mapping onto an orbifold with non-abelian fundamental group. We also find an affine manifold whose irreducible components of its characteristic varieties do not come from the pull-back of the characteristic varieties of an orbifold

A topological invariant of line arrangements

We define a new topological invariant of line arrangements in the complex projective plane. This invariant is a root of unity defined under some combinatorial restrictions for arrangements endowed with some special torsion character on the fundamental group of their complements. It is derived from the peripheral structure on the group induced by the inclusion map of the boundary of a tubular neigborhood in the exterior of the arrangement. By similarity with knot theory, it can be viewed as an analogue of linking numbers. This is an orientation-preserving invariant for ordered arrangements. We give an explicit method to compute the invariant from the equations of the arrangement, by using wiring diagrams introduced by Arvola, that encode the braid monodromy. Moreover, this invariant is a crucial ingredient to compute the depth of a character satisfying some resonant conditions, and complete the existent methods by Libgober and the first author. Finally, we compute the invariant for extended MacLane arrangements with an additional line and observe that it takes different values for the deformation classes.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Rational homology disk smoothings of surface singularities; the exceptional cases

It is known (Stipsicz-Szab\'o-Wahl) that there are exactly three triply-infinite and seven singly-infinite families of weighted homogeneous normal surface singularities admitting a rational homology disk ($\mathbb{Q}$HD) smoothing, i.e., having a Milnor fibre with Milnor number zero. Some examples are found by an explicit "quotient construction", while others require the "Pinkham method". The fundamental group of the Milnor fibre has been known for all except the three exceptional families $\mathcal B_2^3(p), \mathcal C^3_2(p),$ and $\mathcal C^3_3(p)$. In this paper, we settle these cases. We present a new explicit construction for the $\mathcal B_2^3(p)$ family, showing the fundamental group is non-abelian (as occurred previously only for the $\mathcal A^4(p), \mathcal B^4(p)$ and $\mathcal C^4(p)$ cases). We show that the fundamental groups for $\mathcal C^3_2(p)$ and $\mathcal C^3_3(p)$ are abelian, hence easily computed; using the Pinkham method here requires precise calculations for the fundamental group of the complement of a plane curve.Comment: 24 page

Arrangements of hypersurfaces and Bestvina-Brady groups

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.Comment: 21 page