Abstract
Let $\mathcal{A}$ denote a central hyperplane arrangement of rank $n$ in affine space $\mathbb{K}^n$ over an infinite field $\mathbb{K}$ and let $l_1,\ldots, l_m\in R:= \mathbb K[x_1,\ldots,x_n]$ denote the linear forms defining the corresponding hyperplanes, along with the corresponding defining polynomial $f:=l_1\cdots l_m\in R$. Let $J_f$ denote the ideal generated by the partial derivatives of $f$ and let $\mathbb{I}$ designate the ideal generated by the $(m-1)$-fold products of $l_1,\ldots, l_m$. This paper is centered on the relationship between the two ideals $J_f, \mathbb{I}\subset R$, their properties and two conjectures related to them. Some parallel results are obtained in the case of forms of higher degrees provided they fulfill a certain transversality requirement.