English

A counterexample to Purdy's inequality for hyperplane arrangements in projective three-space

Algebraic Geometry 2026-07-09 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

We record an explicit counterexample to a refined form of Purdy's inequality for essential hyperplane arrangements in projective three-space. Let A\mathcal{A} be an arrangement of nn hyperplanes in PC3\mathbb{P}^3_{\mathbb{C}}. Let \ell be the number of distinct intersection lines of A\mathcal{A}, and let pp be the number of intersection points, where an intersection point means a point at which at least three hyperplanes meet. The expected inequality is p+n+20. p-\ell+n+2\geq 0. The classical obstruction is the rank 2+22+2 product arrangement, or dually a configuration of points contained in two skew lines. We explain this obstruction first, and then show that it is not the only one. The reflection-arrangement search leads naturally to a subarrangement of the monomial reflection arrangement of type G(3,3,4)G(3,3,4). Looking dually, this configuration is not contained in two skew lines, and has f0(S)=12,f1(S)=58,f2(S)=43. f_0(S)=12,\qquad f_1(S)=58,\qquad f_2(S)=43. Therefore its dual arrangement has n=12,=58,p=43, n=12,\qquad \ell=58,\qquad p=43, and hence p+n+2=1. p-\ell+n+2=-1. Thus the refined statement excluding only the two-skew-lines obstruction is false.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.08463,
  title  = {A counterexample to Purdy's inequality for hyperplane arrangements in projective three-space},
  author = {Mateusz Michałek and Piotr Pokora},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.08463},
  year   = {2026}
}