Configurations of noncollinear points in the projective plane

Abstract

We consider the space $F_n$ of configurations of $n$ points in $P^2$ satisfying the condition that no three of the points lie on a line. For $n = 4, 5, 6$, we compute $H^*(F_n; \mathbb{Q})$ as an $S_n$-representation. The cases $n = 5, 6$ are computed via the Grothendieck--Lefschetz trace formula in \'etale cohomology and certain "twisted" point counts for analogous spaces over $\mathbb{F}_q$.