Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1308.1721

Balloons and Hoops and their Universal Finite Type Invariant, BF Theory, and an Ultimate Alexander Invariant

Dror Bar-Natan
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Balloons are two-dimensional spheres. Hoops are one dimensional loops. Knotted Balloons and Hoops (KBH) in 4-space behave much like the first and second homotopy groups of a topological space - hoops can be composed as in π_1, balloons as in π_2, and hoops "act" on balloons as π_1 acts on π_2. We observe that ordinary knots and tangles in 3-space map into KBH in 4-space and become amalgams of both balloons and hoops. We give an ansatz for a tree and wheel (that is, free-Lie and cyclic word) -valued invariant ζof (ribbon) KBHs in terms of the said compositions and action and we explain its relationship with finite type invariants. We speculate that ζis a complete evaluation of the BF topological quantum field theory in 4D. We show that a certain "reduction and repackaging" of ζis an "ultimate Alexander invariant" that contains the Alexander polynomial (multivariable, if you wish), has extremely good composition properties, is evaluated in a topologically meaningful way, and is least-wasteful in a computational sense. If you believe in categorification, that should be a wonderful playground.

Explore related subjects

math.QAmath.GT

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Dror Bar-Natan. 2013-08-08. Balloons and Hoops and their Universal Finite Type Invariant, BF Theory, and an Ultimate Alexander Invariant. https://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1721

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

On Diagrammatic Categorification of Verma Modules I: Braiding

In this paper, we study the extensions of KLRW algebras to tensor products of Verma module representations of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$. Our motivation is to construct a theory of Khovanov homology for knot complements in $S^3$ (and which also categorifies the Gukov-Manolescu two-variable series for knot complements), which will be done in the second part of this work. We construct the categorification of R-matrices for Verma modules as functors given by derived tensor products with diagrammatic bimodules and explicitly compute their projective resolutions. We also prove these braiding functors induce an action of the braid group on the relevant categories. Then, we describe how to incorporate strands in finite-dimensional representations of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$, thereby establishing functors that serve as the Khovanov homology on a braid complement. In the case of the unknot, this gives knot homologies in $S^1\times D^2$, which we compare to Annular Khovanov Homology through several examples and show they are very closely related, conjecturing they are of the same dimension. We conclude with a proposal for the categorification of the cups and caps of Verma module colored strands, which we build upon in the next paper.

math.QA↗
arXiv2026

Some finite dimensional representations of shifted quantum affine algebras of type A

In this paper, we study finite dimensional representations of shifted quantum affine algebras of type A. We give an explicit description of the tensor product of simple evaluation modules of the quantum loop algebra and a one-dimensional representation of the shifted quantum affine algebra under the separation condition. As a consequence, we give the q-characters of some finite dimensional simple modules of the shifted quantum affine algebra.

math.QA↗