Hyperplane arrangements and mixed Hodge numbers of the Milnor fiber

Abstract: For each complex central essential hyperplane arrangement $\mathcal{A}$, let $F_{\mathcal{A}}$ denote its Milnor fiber. We use Tevelev's theory of tropical compactifications to study invariants related to the mixed Hodge structure on the cohomology of $F_{\mathcal{A}}$. We prove that the map taking each arrangement $\mathcal{A}$ to the Hodge-Deligne polynomial of $F_{\mathcal{A}}$ is locally constant on the realization space of any loop-free matroid. When $\mathcal{A}$ consists of distinct hyperplanes, we also give a combinatorial description for the homotopy type of the boundary complex of any simple normal crossing compactification of $F_{\mathcal{A}}$. As a direct consequence, we obtain a combinatorial formula for the top weight cohomology of $F_{\mathcal{A}}$, recovering a result of Dimca and Lehrer.