A hyperplane arrangement is a finite collection of codimension 1 subspaces of a finite dimensional vector space. Arrangements in R^n cut their complement into pieces. The number of pieces can be counted by studying the intersection relations combinatorially. The complement of an arrangement in C^n is connected so the topology becomes much more interesting. However, there is still information that can be gleaned from the lattice of intersections.
In this talk, I will introduce hyperplane arrangements as well as some of the combinatorial and topological invariants that one can define on them. We will look at some examples that illustrate how much topology can be extracted from the combinatorics of the arrangement. I will also define a plane curve arrangement and use some examples to illustrate the subtleties that can arise when studying arrangements.
Back to the schedule of events.