We conjecture an expression for the dimensions of the Khovanov-Rozansky HOMFLY homology groups of the link of a plane curve singularity in terms of the weight polynomials of Hilbert schemes of points scheme-theoretically supported on the singularity. The conjecture specializes to our previous conjecture relating the HOMFLY polynomial to the Euler numbers of the same spaces upon setting t = -1. By generalizing results of Piontkowski on the structure of compactified Jacobians to the case of Hilbert schemes of points, we give an explicit prediction of the HOMFLY homology of a (k, n) torus knot as a certain sum over diagrams.
The Hilbert scheme series corresponding to the summand of the HOMFLY homology with minimal "a" grading can be recovered from the perverse filtration on the cohomology of the compactified Jacobian. In the case of (k,n) torus knots, this space furnishes the unique finite dimensional simple representation of the rational spherical Cherednik algebra with central character k/n. Up to a conjectural identification of the perverse filtration with a previously introduced filtration, the work of Haiman and Gordon and Stafford gives formulas for the Hilbert scheme series when k = mn + 1.
A Coxeter link is a closure of a product of two braids, one being a quasi-Coxeter element and the other being a product of partial full twists. This class of links includes torus knots \(T_{n,k}\) and torus links \(T_{n,nk}\). We identify the knot homology of a Coxeter link with the space of sections of a particular line bundle on a natural generalization of the punctual locus inside the flag Hilbert scheme of points in \(\mathbb{C}^2\).
The intersection of a complex plane curve with a small three-sphere surrounding one of its singularities is a non-trivial link. The refined punctual Hilbert schemes of the singularity parameterize subschemes supported at the singular point of fixed length and whose defining ideals have a fixed number of generators. We conjecture that the generating function of Euler characteristics of refined punctual Hilbert schemes is the HOMFLY polynomial of the link. The conjecture is verified for irreducible singularities y^k = x^n, whose links are the k,n torus knots, and for the singularity y^4 = x^7 - …
We conjecture the existence of four independent gradings in the colored HOMFLY homology. We describe these gradings explicitly for the rectangular colored homology of torus knots and make qualitative predictions of various interesting structures and symmetries in the colored homology of general knots. We also give a simple representation-theoretic model for the HOMFLY homology of the unknot colored by any representation. While some of these structures have a natural interpretation in the physical realization of knot homologies based on counting supersymmetric configurations (BPS states, instan…
Given a planar curve singularity, we prove a conjecture of Oblomkov-Shende, relating the geometry of its Hilbert scheme of points to the HOMFLY polynomial of the associated algebraic link. More generally, we prove an extension of this conjecture, due to Diaconescu-Hua-Soibelman, relating stable pair invariants on the conifold to the colored HOMFLY polynomial of the algebraic link. Our proof uses wall-crossing techniques to prove a blowup identity on the algebro-geometric side. We prove a matching identity for the colored HOMFLY polynomials of a link using skein-theoretic techniques.
For any connected reductive group $G$ over $\mathbb{C}$, we revisit Goresky-Kottwitz-MacPherson's description of the torus equivariant Borel-Moore homology of affine Springer fibers $\mathrm{Sp}_γ\subset \mathrm{Gr}_G$, where $γ=at^d$, and $a$ is a regular semisimple element in the Lie algebra of $G$. In the case $G = GL_n$, we relate the equivariant cohomology of $\mathrm{Sp}_γ$ to Haiman's work on the isospectral Hilbert scheme of points on the plane. We also explain the connection to the HOMFLY homology of $(n, dn)$-torus links, and formulate a conjecture describing the homology of the Hilb…
Besides offering a friendly introduction to knot homologies and quantum curves, the goal of these lectures is to review some of the concrete predictions that follow from the physical interpretation of knot homologies. In particular, this interpretation allows one to pose questions that would not have been asked otherwise, such as, "Is there a direct relation between Khovanov homology and the A-polynomial of a knot?" We will explain that the answer to this question is "yes," and introduce a certain deformation of the planar algebraic curve defined by the zero locus of the A-polynomial. This nov…
We show that a homology plane of general type has at worst a single cyclic quotient singular point. An example of such a surface with a singular point does exist. We also show that the automorphism group of a smooth contractible surface of general type is cyclic.
Given a nonconstant polynomial map over the reals having an isolated critical point in the origin and with zero locus of positive dimension, we establish a formula for the singular homology groups of a Milnor fibre relative to its boundary.
While the topological types of {normal} surface singularities with homology sphere link have been classified, forming a rich class, until recently little was known about the possible analytic structures. We proved in [Geom. Topol. 9(2005) 699-755] that many of them can be realized as complete intersection singularities of "splice type", generalizing Brieskorn type. We show that a normal singularity with homology sphere link is of splice type if and only if some naturally occurring knots in the singularity link are themselves links of hypersurface sections of the singular point. The Casson Inva…
We generalize the cosection localized Gysin map to intersection homology and Borel-Moore homology, which provides us with a purely topological construction of the Fan-Jarvis-Ruan-Witten invariants and some GLSM invariants.
We study singularities of algebraic curves associated with 3d N=2 theories that have at least one global flavor symmetry. Of particular interest is a class of theories T_K labeled by knots, whose partition functions package Poincare polynomials of the S^r-colored HOMFLY homologies. We derive the defining equation, called the super-A-polynomial, for algebraic curves associated with many new examples of 3d N=2 theories T_K and study its singularity structure. In particular, we catalog general types of singularities that presumably exist for all knots and propose their physical interpretation. A …
We present the complete list of all singularity types on Gorenstein $\mathbb{Q}$-homology projective planes, i.e., normal projective surfaces of second Betti number one with at worst rational double points. The list consists of $58$ possible singularity types, each except two types supported by an example.
Algebraic $K$-theory is a homology theory that behaves very well on sufficiently nice objects such as stable $C^*$-algebras or smooth algebraic varieties, and very badly in singular situations. This survey explains how to exploit this to detect singularity phenomena using $K$-theory and cyclic homology.
It has long been known that every quasi-homogeneous normal complex surface singularity with Q-homology sphere link has universal abelian cover a Brieskorn complete intersection singularity. We describe a broad generalization: First, one has a class of complete intersection normal complex surface singularities called "splice type singularities", which generalize Brieskorn complete intersections. Second, these arise as universal abelian covers of a class of normal surface singularities with Q-homology sphere links, called "splice-quotient singularities". According to the Main Theorem, splice-quo…
We discuss the evidence for and implications of a conjecture that the universal abelian cover of a Q-Gorenstein surface singularity with finite local homology (i.e., the singularity link is a Q-homology sphere) is a complete intersection singularity.
For the link $M$ of a normal complex surface singularity $(X,0)$ we ask when a knot $K\subset M$ exists for which the answer to whether $K$ is the link of the zero set of some analytic germ $(X,0)\to (\mathbb C,0)$ affects the analytic structure on $(X,0)$. We show that if $M$ is an integral homology sphere then such a knot exists if and only if $M$ is not one of the Brieskorn homology spheres $M(2,3,5)$, $M(2,3,7)$, $M(2,3,11)$.
We review a construction of a new class of algebraic curves, called super-A-polynomials, and their quantum generalizations. The super-A-polynomial is a two-parameter deformation of the A-polynomial known from knot theory or Chern-Simons theory with SL(2,C) gauge group. The two parameters of the super-A-polynomial encode, respectively, the t-deformation which leads to the "refined A-polynomial", and the Q-deformation which leads to the augmentation polynomial of knot contact homology. For a given knot, the super-A-polynomial encodes the asymptotics of the corresponding S^r-colored HOMFLY homolo…
We study the connection between topological strings and contact homology recently proposed in the context of knot invariants. In particular, we establish the proposed relation between the Gromov-Witten disk amplitudes of a Lagrangian associated to a knot and augmentations of its contact homology algebra. This also implies the equality between the Q-deformed A-polynomial and the augmentation polynomial of knot contact homology (in the irreducible case). We also generalize this relation to the case of links and to higher rank representations for knots. The generalization involves a study of the …
We enumerate plane complex algebraic curves of a given degree with one singularity of any given topological type. Our approach is to compute the homology classes of the corresponding equisingular strata in the parameter spaces of plane curves. We suggest a recursive procedure, which is based on the intersection theory combined with liftings and degenerations. The procedure computes the homology class in question whenever a given singularity type is defined. Our method does not require the knowledge of all the possible deformations of a given singularity.
Using his deep and beautiful idea of cutting with a Hyperplane, Lefschetz explained how the homology groups of a projective smooth variety could be constructed from basic pieces, that he called primitive homology. This idea can be applied every time we have a vector space with a biliner form (i.e. homology with cup product) and a $\pm$-symmetric nilpotent operator (i.e. cutting with a hyperplane). We will illustrate this in the context of Singularity Theory: A germ of an isolated singular point of a hypersurface defined by $f=0$. We begin with the algebraic setting in the Jacobian (or Milnor) …
One deals with arbitrary reduced free divisors in a polynomial ring over a field of characteristic zero, by stressing the ideal theoretic and homological behavior of the corresponding singular locus. A particular emphasis is given to both weighted homogeneous and homogeneous polynomials, allowing to introduce new families of free divisors which do not come from hyperplane arrangements nor as explicit discriminants from singularity theory.
The main question we target is the following: If one fixes a topological type of a complex normal surface singularity then what are the possible analytic types supported by it, and/or, what are the possible values of the geometric genus? We answer the question for a specific (in some sense pathological) topological type, which supports rather different analytic structures. These structures are listed together with some of their key analytic invariants.
We compute the Heegaard-Floer link homology of algebraic links in terms of the multivariate Hilbert function of the corresponding plane curve singularities. The main result of the paper identifies four homologies: (a) the Heegaard-Floer link homology of the local embedded link of the germ, (b) the lattice homology associated with the Hilbert function, (c) the homologies of the projectivized complements of local hyperplane arrangements cut out from the local algebra, and (d) a certain variant of the Orlik-Solomon algebra of these local arrangements. In particular, the Poincaré polynomials of al…
A Q-homology plane is a normal complex algebraic surface having trivial rational homology. We obtain a structure theorem for Q-homology planes with smooth locus of non-general type. We show that if a Q-homology plane contains a non-quotient singularity then it is a quotient of an affine cone over a projective curve by an action of a finite group respecting the set of lines through the vertex. In particular, it is contractible, has negative Kodaira dimension and only one singular point. We describe minimal normal completions of such planes.
We enumerate complex algebraic hypersurfaces in $P^n$, of a given (high) degree with one singular point of a given singularity type. Our approach is to compute the (co)homology classes of the corresponding equi-singular strata in the parameter space of hypersurfaces. We suggest an inductive procedure, based on intersection theory combined with liftings and degenerations. The procedure computes the (co)homology class in question, whenever a given singularity type is properly defined and the stratum possesses good geometric properties. We consider in details the generalized Newton-non-degenerate…
In this paper we study weight homology of singular schemes. Weight homology is an invariant of a singular scheme defined in terms of hypercoverings of resolution of singularities. Our main result is McKay principle for weight homology of quotient singularities, i.e. we describe weight homology of a quotient scheme in terms of weight homology of an equivariant scheme. Our method is to reduce the geometric McKay principle for weight homology to Kato's cohomological Hasse principle for arithmetic schemes. The McKay principle for weight homology implies McKay principle for the homotopy type of the…
We associate (under a minor assumption) to any analytic isolated singularity of dimension $n\geq 2$ the `analytic lattice cohomology' ${\mathbb H}^*_{an}=\oplus_{q\geq 0}{\mathbb H}^q_{an}$. Each ${\mathbb H}^q_{an}$ is a graded ${\mathbb Z}[U]$--module. It is the extension to higher dimension of the `analytic lattice cohomology' defined for a normal surface singularity with a rational homology sphere link. This latest one is the analytic analogue of the `topological lattice cohomology' of the link of the normal surface singularity, which conjecturally is isomorphic to the Heegaard Floer cohom…
In this article, we consider an infinite family of normal surface singularities with an integral homology sphere link which is related to the family of space monomial curves with a plane semigroup. These monomial curves appear as the special fibers of equisingular families of curves whose generic fibers are a complex plane branch, and the related surface singularities appear in a proof of the monodromy conjecture for these curves. To investigate whether the link of a normal surface singularity is an integral homology sphere, one can use a characterization that depends on the determinant of the…
We show that Hilbert schemes of planar curve singularities and their parabolic variants can be interpreted as certain generalized affine Springer fibers for $GL_n$, as defined by Goresky-Kottwitz-MacPherson. Using a generalization of affine Springer theory for Braverman-Finkelberg-Nakajima's Coulomb branch algebras, we construct a rational Cherednik algebra action on the homology of the Hilbert schemes, and compute it in examples. Along the way, we generalize to the parahoric setting the recent construction of Hilburn-Kamnitzer-Weekes, which may be of independent interest. In the spherical cas…
We recover the Newton diagram (modulo a natural ambiguity) from the link for any surface hypersurface singularity with non-degenerate Newton principal part whose link is a rational homology sphere. As a corollary, we show that the link determines the embedded topological type, the Milnor fibration, and the multiplicity of such a germ. This proves (even a stronger version of) Zariski's Conjecture about the multiplicity for such a singularity.
The main message of the paper is that for Gorenstein singularities, whose (real) link is rational homology sphere, the Artin--Laufer program can be continued. Here we give the complete answer in the case of elliptic singularities. The main result of the paper says that in the case of an elliptic Gorenstein singularity whose link is rational homology sphere, the geometric genus is a topological invariant. Actually, it is exactly the length of the elliptic sequence in the minimal resolution (or, equivalently, in S. S.-T. Yau's terminology: these singularities are maximally elliptic). In the pape…
The periodic cyclic homology of any proper dg category comes equipped with a canonical pairing. We show that in the case of the dg category of matrix factorizations of an isolated singularity the canonical pairing can be identified with the so-called higher residue pairing on the twisted de Rham cohomology of the singularity.
As an algebraic surface, the equation of $E_8$-singularity $x^5+y^3+z^2=0$ can be obtained from a quotient $C_Y/\text{SL}(2, 13)$ over the modular curve $X(13)$, where $Y \subset \mathbb{CP}^5$ is a complete intersection curve given by a system of $\text{SL}(2, 13)$-invariant polynomials and $C_Y$ is a cone over $Y$. It is different from the Kleinian singularity $\mathbb{C}^2/Γ$, where $Γ$ is the binary icosahedral group. This gives a negative answer to Arnol'd and Brieskorn's questions about the mysterious relation between the icosahedron and $E_8$, i.e., the $E_8$-singularity is not necessar…
We consider suspension hypersurface singularities of type g=f(x,y)+z^n, where f is an irreducible plane curve singularity. For such germs, we prove that the link of g determines completely the Newton pairs of f and the integer n except for two pathological cases, which can be completely described. Even in the pathological cases, the link and the Milnor number of g determine uniquely the Newton pairs of f and n. In particular, for such g, we verify Zariski's conjecture about the multiplicity. The result also supports the following conjecture formulated in the paper. If the link of an isolated h…
