A note on Tutte polynomials and Orlik-Solomon algebras

Raul Cordovil, David Forge

Published 2002-03-15, updated 2003-07-30Version 4

Let A be a (central) arrangement of hyperplanes in a finite dimension complex vector space V. Let M(A) be the dependence matroid determined by A. The Orlik-Solomon algebra OS(M) of a matroid M is the exterior algebra on the points modulo the ideal generated by circuit boundaries. The algebra OS(M) is isomorphic to the cohomology algebra of the complement in V of the union of the hyperplanes of A. The Tutte polynomial T(x,y) of M is a powerful invariant of the matroid M. When M(A) is a rank three matroid and A is the complexification of a real arrangement, we prove that OS(M) determines T(x,y). This result solves partially a conjecure of M. Falk.