Purity, formality, and arrangement complements

Abstract

We prove a "purity implies formality" statement in the context of the rational homotopy theory of smooth complex algebraic varieties, and apply it to complements of hypersurface arrangements. In particular, we prove that the complement of a toric arrangement is formal. This is analogous to the classical formality theorem for complements of hyperplane arrangements, due to Brieskorn, and generalizes a theorem of De Concini and Procesi.