Two Lectures On The Jones Polynomial And Khovanov Homology

Edward Witten

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1401.6996

Two Lectures On The Jones Polynomial And Khovanov Homology

Edward Witten

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

In the first of these two lectures, I describe a gauge theory approach to understanding quantum knot invariants as Laurent polynomials in a complex variable q. The two main steps are to reinterpret three-dimensional Chern-Simons gauge theory in four dimensional terms and then to apply electric-magnetic duality. The variable q is associated to instanton number in the dual description in four dimensions. In the second lecture, I describe how Khovanov homology can emerge upon adding a fifth dimension. (Based on lectures presented at the Clay Research Conference at Oxford University, and also at the Galileo Galilei Institute in Florence, the University of Milan, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania.)

Explore related subjects

math.GT hep-th math.DG

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Edward Witten. 2014-01-27. Two Lectures On The Jones Polynomial And Khovanov Homology. https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.6996

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

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Bar cohomology of links: beyond Milnor invariants

We develop bar cohomology of link complements as an invariant of links in homology spheres. In this setting, bar cohomology is a Hopf algebra which is calculable using surfaces and their intersection curves in a link complement. In this first in a sequence of works, we introduce the invariant and show that it defines a canonical subspace of the tensor Hopf algebra, which already encodes information about Milnor's link invariants and provides geometrically significant information beyond them.

math.GT↗

arXiv2026

A counterexample to the wrapping number conjecture

We exhibit an annular knot with wrapping number four whose Kauffman bracket has annular degree at most two. This disproves the wrapping number conjecture.

math.GT↗

arXiv2026

Homological lifts of Arnold invariants $J^-$ and $J^+$

Viro's Euler-integral polynomial $P_C(q)$ and the Lanzat--Polyak quantized-curvature polynomial $I_q(C)$ refine Arnold's invariants $J^-$ and $J^+$ for generic immersed one-component plane curves. We construct homological lifts of both. The bigraded region homology retains the singular homology of every connected Alexander-index region; its graded Euler characteristic is $P_C(q)$. The triply graded smoothing-circle homology is generated by the oriented circles of the orientation-preserving smoothing and decategorifies to the smoothing term in $I_q(C)$. Keeping the actual region summands and the boundary regions of every smoothing circle gives a homological refinement of the oriented smoothing configuration, or Seifert state. An infinite family proves strictness: both polynomial data and the ordinary homological lifts agree, while the component-graded region homology and the branch-decomposed circle homology distinguish every pair. Further constructions recover the full $I_q(C)$ by a vertex complex, realize the local change of its curvature integral by edge homology, and give a canonical two-state homology for unoriented curves. Viro described his Euler-integral formula as an analogue of face state-sum formulas for quantum knot polynomials. Through the categorifications developed here, we obtain one concrete homological face-state-sum model realizing that analogy.

math.GT↗