Fundamental groups of real arrangements and torsion in the lower central series quotients

Abstract

By using computer assistance, we prove that the fundamental group of the complement of a real complexified line arrangement is not determined by its intersection lattice, providing a counter-example for a problem of Falk and Randell. We also deduce that the torsion of the lower central series quotients is not combinatorially determined, which gives a negative answer to a question of Suciu.