Pencil type line arrangements of low degree: classification and monodromy

Abstract

The complete classification of (3,3)-nets and of (3,4)-nets with only double and triple points is given. Up to lattice isomorphism, there are exactly 3 effective possibilities in each case, and some of these provide new examples of pencil-type line arrangements. For arrangements consisting of at most 14 lines and having points of multiplicity at most 5, we show that the non-triviality of the monodromy on the first cohomology H^1(F) of the associated Milnor fiber F implies the arrangement is of reduced pencil-type. In particular, the monodromy is determined by the combinatorics in such cases.