On the topology of arrangements of a cubic and its inflectional tangents

Abstract

A $k$-Artal arrangement is a reducible algebraic curve composed of a smooth cubic and $k$ inflectional tangents. By studying the topological properties of their subarrangements, we prove that for $k=3,4,5,6$, there exist Zariski pairs of $k$-Artal arrangements. These Zariski pairs can be distinguished in a geometric way by the number of collinear triples in the set of singular points of the arrangement contained in the cubic.