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Roger Picken

Publications and source records attributed to Roger Picken.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2019

2-Group Actions and Moduli Spaces of Higher Gauge Theory

A framework for higher gauge theory based on a 2-group is presented, by constructing a groupoid of connections on a manifold acted on by a 2-group of gauge transformations, following previous work by the authors where the general notion of the action of a 2-group on a category was defined. The connections are discretized, given by assignments of 2-group data to 1- and 2-cells coming from a given cell structure on the manifold, and likewise the gauge transformations are given by 2-group assignments to 0-cells. The 2-cells of the manifold are endowed with a bigon structure, matching the 2-dimensional algebra of squares which is used for calculating with 2-group data. Showing that the action of the 2-group of gauge transformations on the groupoid of connections is well-defined is the central result. The effect, on the groupoid of connections, of changing the discretization is studied, and partial results and conjectures are presented around this issue. The transformation double category that arises from the action of a 2-group on a category, as defined in previous work by the authors, is described for the case at hand, where it becomes a transtormation double groupoid. Finally, examples of the construction are given for simple choices of manifold: the circle, the 2-sphere and the torus.

math-ph↗
arXiv2018

Some properties of Bowlin and Brin's color graphs

Bowlin and Brin defined the class of color graphs, whose vertices are triangulated polygons compatible with a fixed four-coloring of the polygon vertices. In this article it is proven that each color graph has a vertex-induced embedding in a hypercube, and an upper bound is given for the hypercube dimension. The color graphs for $n$-gons up to $n=8$ are listed and some of their features are discussed. Finally it is shown that certain color graphs cannot be isometrically embedded in a hypercube of any dimension.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Invariants and TQFT's for cut cellular surfaces from finite 2-groups

In this brief sequel to a previous article, we recall the notion of a cut cellular surface (CCS), being a surface with boundary, which is cut in a specified way to be represented in the plane, and is composed of 0-, 1- and 2-cells. We obtain invariants of CCS's under Pachner-like moves on the cellular structure, by counting colourings of the 1- and 2-cells with elements of a finite 2-group, subject to a "fake flatness" condition for each 2-cell. These invariants, which extend Yetter's invariants to this class of surfaces, are also described in a TQFT setting. A result from the previous article concerning the commuting fraction of a group is generalized to the 2-group context.

math.GT↗
arXiv2016

Link invariants from finite categorical groups

We define an invariant of tangles and framed tangles given a finite crossed module and a pair of functions, called a Reidemeister pair, satisfying natural properties. We give several examples of Reidemeister pairs derived from racks, quandles, rack and quandle cocycles, and central extensions of groups. We prove that our construction includes all rack and quandle cohomology (framed) link invariants, as well as the Eisermann invariant of knots. We construct a class of Reidemeister pairs which constitute a lifting of the Eisermann invariant, and show through an example that this class is strictly stronger than the Eisermann invariant itself.

math.GT↗
arXiv2016

Invariants and TQFT's for cut cellular surfaces from finite groups

We introduce the notion of a cut cellular surface (CCS), being a surface with boundary, which is cut in a specified way to be represented in the plane, and is composed of 0-, 1- and 2-cells. We obtain invariants of CCS's under Pachner-like moves on the cellular structure, by counting colourings of the 1-cells with elements of a finite group, subject to a "flatness" condition for each 2-cell. These invariants are also described in a TQFT setting, which is not the same as the usual 2-dimensional TQFT framework. We study the properties of functions which arise in this context, associated to the disk, the cylinder and the pants surface, and derive general properties of these functions from topology, including properties which come from invariance under the Hatcher-Thurston moves on pants decompositions.

math.GT↗
arXiv2016

Transformation Double Categories Associated to 2-Group Actions

Transformation groupoids associated to group actions capture the interplay between global and local symmetries of structures described in set-theoretic terms. This paper examines the analogous situation for structures described in category-theoretic terms, where symmetry is expressed as the action of a 2-group G (equivalently, a categorical group) on a category C. It describes the construction of a transformation groupoid in diagrammatic terms, and considers this construction internal to Cat, the category of categories. The result is a double category C//G which describes the local symmetries of C. We define this and describe some of its structure, with the adjoint action of G on itself as a guiding example.

math.CT↗
arXiv2013

Colourings and the Alexander Polynomial

In this paper we look for closed expressions to calculate the number of colourings of prime knots for given linear Alexander quandles. For this purpose the colouring matrices are simplified to a triangular form, when possible. The operations used to perform this triangularization preserve the property that the entries in each row add up to zero, thereby simplifying the solution of the equations giving the number of colourings. When the colouring matrices (of prime knots up to ten crossings) can be triangularized, closed expressions giving the number of colourings can be obtained in a straightforward way. We use these results to show that there are colouring matrices that cannot be triangularized. In the case of knots with triangularizable colouring matrices we present a way to find linear Alexander quandles that distinguish by colourings knots with different Alexander polynomials. The colourings of knots with the same Alexander polynomial are also studied as regards when they can and cannot be distinguished by colourings.

math.GT↗
arXiv2013

Link invariants from finite categorical groups and braided crossed modules

We define an invariant of tangles and framed tangles given a finite crossed module and a pair of functions, called a Reidemeister pair, satisfying natural properties. We give several examples of Reidemeister pairs derived from racks, quandles, rack and quandle cocycles, 2-crossed modules and braided crossed modules. We prove that our construction includes all rack and quandle cohomology (framed) link invariants, as well as the Eisermann invariant of knots, for which we also find a lifting by using braided crossed modules.

math.GT↗
arXiv2011

On invariants of almost symplectic connections

We study the irreducible decomposition under Sp(2n, R) of the space of torsion tensors of almost symplectic connections. Then a description of all symplectic quadratic invariants of torsion-like tensors is given. When applied to a manifold M with an almost symplectic structure, these instruments give preliminary insight for finding a preferred linear almost symplectic connection on M . We rediscover Ph. Tondeur's Theorem on almost symplectic connections. Properties of torsion of the vectorial kind are deduced.

math.SG↗
arXiv2010

The fundamental Gray 3-groupoid of a smooth manifold and local 3-dimensional holonomy based on a 2-crossed module

We define the thin fundamental Gray 3-groupoid $S_3(M)$ of a smooth manifold $M$ and define (by using differential geometric data) 3-dimensional holonomies, to be smooth strict Gray 3-groupoid maps $S_3(M) \to C(H)$, where $H$ is a 2-crossed module of Lie groups and $C(H)$ is the Gray 3-groupoid naturally constructed from $H$. As an application, we define Wilson 3-sphere observables.

math.CT↗
arXiv2008

On two-Dimensional Holonomy

We define the thin fundamental categorical group ${\mathcal P}_2(M,*)$ of a based smooth manifold $(M,*)$ as the categorical group whose objects are rank-1 homotopy classes of based loops on $M$, and whose morphisms are rank-2 homotopy classes of homotopies between based loops on $M$. Here two maps are rank-$n$ homotopic, when the rank of the differential of the homotopy between them equals $n$. Let $\C(\Gc)$ be a Lie categorical group coming from a Lie crossed module ${\Gc= (\d\colon E \to G,\tr)}$. We construct categorical holonomies, defined to be smooth morphisms ${\mathcal P}_2(M,*) \to \C(\Gc)$, by using a notion of categorical connections, being a pair $(\w,m)$, where $\w$ is a connection 1-form on $P$, a principal $G$ bundle over $M$, and $m$ is a 2-form on $P$ with values in the Lie algebra of $E$, with the pair $(\w,m)$ satisfying suitable conditions. As a further result, we are able to define Wilson spheres in this context.

math.DG↗
arXiv2004

Parasupersymmetric Quantum Mechanics of Order 3 and a Generalized Witten Index

In this paper we generalize the Rubakov-Spiridonov parasupersymmetry algebra to the order 3 case. We also generalize the notion of the Witten index, and we provide a class of models satisfying our parasupersymmetry algebra. Finally, we show that there is a correspondence between the Hamiltonian and the index in our class of models.

math-ph↗
arXiv2004

TQFT's and gerbes

We generalize the notion of parallel transport along paths for abelian bundles to parallel transport along surfaces for abelian gerbes using an embedded Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT) approach. We show both for bundles and gerbes with connection that there is a one-to-one correspondence between their local description in terms of locally-defined functions and forms and their non-local description in terms of a suitable class of embedded TQFT's.

math.DG↗
arXiv2001

Holonomy and parallel transport for Abelian gerbes

In this paper we establish a one-to-one correspondence between $S^1$-gerbes with connections, on the one hand, and their holonomies, for simply connected manifolds, or their parallel transports, in the general case, on the other hand. This result is a higher-order analogue of the familiar equivalence between bundles with connections and their holonomies for connected manifolds. The holonomy of a gerbe with group $S^1$ on a simply connected manifold $M$ is a group morphism from the thin second homotopy group to $S^1$, satisfying a smoothness condition, where a homotopy between maps from $[0,1]^2$ to $M$ is thin when its derivative is of rank $\leq 2$. For the non-simply connected case, holonomy is replaced by a parallel transport functor between two monoidal Lie groupoids. The reconstruction of the gerbe and connection from its holonomy is carried out in detail for the simply connected case. Our approach to abelian gerbes with connections holds out prospects for generalizing to the non-abelian case via the theory of double Lie groupoids.

math.DG↗