arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Vladimir Turaev.
A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We study algebraic invariants of strings as well as two equivalence relations on the set of strings: homotopy and cobordism. We show that the homotopy invariants of strings form an infinite dimensional Lie group. We also discuss connections between virtual strings and virtual knots.
A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We introduce virtual strings and study their geometric properties and homotopy invariants. We also discuss connections between virtual strings, Gauss words, and virtual knots.
We introduce and study so-called self-indexed graphs. These are (oriented) finite graphs endowed with a map from the set of edges to the set of vertices. Such graphs naturally arise from classical knot and link diagrams. In fact, the graphs resulting from link diagrams have an additional structure, an integral flow. We call a self-indexed graph with integral flow a comte. The analogy with links allows us to define transformations of comtes generalizing the Reidemeister moves on link diagrams. We show that many invariants of links can be generalized to comtes, most notably the linking number, the Alexander polynomials, the link group, etc. We also discuss finite type invariants and quandle cocycle invariants of comtes.
We establish a new homological lower bound for the Thurston norm on 1-cohomology of 3-manifolds. This generalizes previous results of C. McMullen, S. Harvey, and the author. We also establish an analogous lower bound for 1-cohomology of 2-dimensional CW-complexes.
We introduce a norm on the real 1-cohomology of finite 2-complexes determined by the Euler characteristics of graphs on these complexes. We also introduce twisted Alexander-Fox polynomials of groups and show that they give rise to norms on the real 1-cohomology of groups. Our main theorem states that for a finite 2-complex X, the norm on H^1(X; R) determined by graphs on X majorates the Alexander-Fox norms derived from π_1(X).
For a group G, the notion of a ribbon G-category was introduced by the second author in a previous work with a view towards constructing 3-dimensional homotopy quantum field theories (HQFT's) with target K(G,1). We discuss here how to derive ribbon G-categories from a simple complex Lie algebra g where G is the center of g. The construction is based on a study of representations of the quantum group $U_q(g)$ at a root of unity. Under certain assumptions on the root of unity, the resulting G-categories give rise to numerical invariants of pairs (a closed oriented 3-manifold M, an element of $H^1(M;G)$) and to 3-dimensional HQFT's.
We give a surgery formula for the torsions and Seiberg-Witten invariants associated with $Spin^c$-structures on 3-manifolds. We use the technique of Reidemeister-type torsions and their refinements.
We give an exposition of the work of Bigelow and Krammer who proved that the Artin braid groups are linear.
We use categories of representations of finite dimensional quantum groupoids (weak Hopf algebras) to construct ribbon and modular categories that give rise to invariants of knots and 3-manifolds.
A 3-dimensional homotopy quantum field theory (HQFT) can be described as a TQFT for surfaces and 3-cobordisms endowed with homotopy classes of maps into a given space. For a group $π$, we introduce a notion of a modular crossed $π$-category and show that such a category gives rise to a 3-dimensional HQFT with target space $K(π,1)$. This includes numerical invariants of 3-dimensional $π$-manifolds and a 2-dimensional homotopy modular functor. We also introduce and discuss a parallel notion of a quasitriangular crossed Hopf $π$-coalgebra.
We apply the idea of a topological quantum field theory (TQFT) to maps from manifolds into topological spaces. This leads to a notion of a (d+1)-dimensional homotopy quantum field theory (HQFT) which may be described as a TQFT for closed d-dimensional manifolds and (d+1)-dimensional cobordisms endowed with homotopy classes of maps into a given space. For a group $π$, we introduce cohomological HQFT's with target $K(π,1)$ derived from cohomology classes of $π$ and its subgroups of finite index. The main body of the paper is concerned with (1+1)-dimensional HQFT's. We classify them in terms of so called crossed group-algebras. In particular, the cohomological (1+1)-dimensional HQFT's over a field of characteristic 0 are classified by simple crossed group-algebras. We introduce two state sum models for (1+1)-dimensional HQFT's and prove that the resulting HQFT's are direct sums of rescaled cohomological HQFT's. We also discuss a version of the Verlinde formula in this setting.
We introduce higher skein modules of links generalizing the Conway skein module. We show that these modules are closely connected to the HOMFLY polynomial.
In this paper we use the results of our previous work in order to compute the phase of the torsion of an Euler structure in terms of its characteristic class. Also, we introduce here a new notion of an absolute torsion, which does not require a choice of any additional topological information (like an Euler structure). We prove that in the case of closed 3-manifolds obtained by 0-framed surgery on a classical knot the absolute torsion is equivalent to the Conway polynomial. Hence the absolute torsion can be viewed as a high-dimensional generalization of the Conway polynomial.
For any finite-dimensional Lie bialgebra $g$, we construct a bialgebra $A_{u,v}(g)$ over the ring $C[u][[v]]$, which quantizes simultaneously the universal enveloping bialgebra $U({g})$, the bialgebra dual to $U(g^*)$, and the symmetric bialgebra $S(g)$. We call $A_{u,v}(g)$ a biquantization of $S(g)$. We show that the bialgebra $A_{u,v}(g^*)$ quantizing $U(g^*)$, $U(g)^*$, and $S(g^*)$ is essentially dual to the bialgebra obtained from $A_{u,v}(g)$ by exchanging $u$ and $v$. Thus, $A_{u,v}(g)$ contains all information about the quantization of $g$. Our construction extends Etingof and Kazhdan's one-variable quantization of $U(g)$.
In this paper we define a Poincaré-Reidemeister scalar product on the determinant line of the cohomology of any flat vector bundle over a closed orientable odd-dimensional manifold. It is a combinatorial "torsion-type" invariant which refines the PR-metric, introduced earlier by the first author, and contains an additional sign or phase information. We compute the PR-scalar product in terms of the torsions of Euler structures, introduced earlier by the second author. We show that the sign of our PR-scalar product is determined by the Stiefel-Whitney classes and the semi-characteristic of the manifold. As an application, we compute the Ray-Singer analytic torsion via the torsions of Euler structures. Another application: a computation of the twisted semi-characteristic in terms of the Stiefel-Whitney classes.
Let H be a Hopf algebra in a rigid braided monoidal category with split idempotents. We prove the existence of integrals on (in) H characterized by the universal property, employing results about Hopf modules, and show that their common target (source) object Int H is invertible. The fully braided version of Radford's formula for the fourth power of the antipode is obtained. Connections of integration with cross-product and transmutation are studied. The results apply to topological Hopf algebras, e.g. a torus with a hole, which do not have additive structure.