A generalized Terao Conjecture for line arrangements

Source abstract

For a line arrangement $\mathcal{A} \colon f=0$ in $\mathbb{P}^2$, let $ν(\mathcal{A})$ be the maximal dimension of a graded piece of the Jacobian module of $f$. We study the conjecture that $ν(\mathcal{A})$ depends only on the intersection lattice of $\mathcal{A}$. It is known that $\mathcal{A}$ is free if and only if $ν(\mathcal{A})=0$, and hence this conjecture is a strengthening of Terao's conjecture for line arrangements. We show that the conjecture holds for arrangements of at most $13$ lines, except possibly for arrangements of exactly $13$ lines whose intersection points have maximal multiplicity $5$.