SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · q-alg/9706004

The Aarhus integral of rational homology 3-spheres I: A highly non trivial flat connection on S^3

Abstract

Path integrals don't really exist, but it is very useful to dream that they do exist, and figure out the consequences. Apart from describing much of the physical world as we now know it, these dreams also lead to some highly non-trivial mathematical theorems and theories. We argue that even though non-trivial flat connections on S^3 don't really exist, it is beneficial to dream that one exists (and, in fact, that it comes from the non-existent Chern-Simons path integral). Dreaming the right way, we are led to a rigorous construction of a universal finite-type invariant of rational homology spheres. We show that this invariant is equal to the LMO (Le-Murakami-Ohtsuki) invariant and that it recovers the Rozansky and Ohtsuki invariants. This is part I of a 4-part series, containing the introductions and answers to some frequently asked questions. Theorems are stated but not proved in this part, and it can be viewed as a "research announcement". Part II of this series is titled "Invariance and Universality" (see math/9801049), part III "The Relation with the Le-Murakami-Ohtsuki Invariant" (see math/9808013), and part IV "The Relation with the Rozansky and Ohtsuki Invariants".

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Dror Bar-Natan, Stavros Garoufalidis, Lev Rozansky, Dylan P. Thurston. 1999-02-15. The Aarhus integral of rational homology 3-spheres I: A highly non trivial flat connection on S^3. https://arxiv.org/abs/q-alg/9706004

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

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Idempotents of Hecke algebras of type A

We use a skein-theoretic version of the Hecke algebras of type A to present three-dimensional diagrammatic views of Gyoja's idempotent elements, based closely on the corresponding Young diagram. In this context we give straightforward calculations for the eigenvalues of two natural central elements in the Hecke algebras, namely the full curl and the sum of the Murphy operators. We discuss their calculation also in terms of the framing factor associated to the appropriate irreducible representation of the quantum group SU(N,q).

q-alg

Dual Affine Quantum Groups

Let $\hat{\mathfrak{g}}$ be an untwisted affine Kac-Moody algebra, with its Sklyanin-Drinfel'd structure of Lie bialgebra, and let $\hat{\mathfrak{h}}$ be the dual Lie bialgebra. By dualizing the quantum double construction - via formal Hopf algebras - we construct a new quantum group $U_q(\hat{\mathfrak{h}})$, dual of $U_q(\hat{\mathfrak{g}})$. Studying its restricted and unrestricted integer forms and their specializations at roots of 1 (in particular, their classical limits), we prove that $U_q(\hat{\mathfrak{h}})$ yields quantizations of $\hat{\mathfrak{h}}$ and $\hat{G}^\infty$ (the formal group attached to $\hat{\mathfrak{g}}$), and we construct new quantum Frobenius morphisms. The whole picture extends to the untwisted affine case the results known for quantum groups of finite type.

q-alg

A PBW basis for Lusztig's form of untwisted affine quantum groups

Let $ \mathfrak{g} $ be an untwisted affine Kac-Moody algebra over the field $ K \, $, and let $ U_q(\mathfrak{g}) $ be the associated quantum enveloping algebra; let $ \mathfrak{U}_q(g) $ be the Lusztig's integer form of $ U_q(\mathfrak{g}) \, $, generated by $ q $-divided powers of Chevalley generators over a suitable subring $ R $ of $ K(q) \, $. We prove a Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt like theorem for $ \mathfrak{U}_q(\mathfrak{g}) \, $, yielding a basis over $ R $ made of ordered products of $ q $-divided powers of suitable quantum root vectors.

q-alg