We study the spaces of embeddings $S^m\hookrightarrow R^n$ and those of long embeddings $R^m\hookrightarrow R^n$, i.e. embeddings of a fixed behavior outside a compact set. More precisely we look at the homotopy fiber of the inclusion of these spaces to the spaces of immersions. We find a natural fiber sequence relating these spaces. We also compare the $L_\infty$-algebras of diagrams that encode their rational homotopy type, when the codimension $n-m\geq 3$.
We show that the Bousfield-Kan spectral sequence which computes the rational homotopy groups of the space of long knots in ${\mathbb R}^d$, where $d\ge 4$, collapses at the $E^2$ page. The main ingredients in the proof are Sinha's cosimplicial model for the space of long knots and a coformality result for the little balls operad.
In the paper we prove that the primitive part of the Sinha homology spectral sequence E^2-term for the space of long knots is rationally isomorphic to the homotopy E^2-term. We also define natural graph-complexes computing the rational homotopy of configuration and of knot spaces.
We show that there exist non-trivial piecewise-linear (PL) knots with isolated singularities $S^{n-2}\subset S^n$, $n\geq 5$, whose complements have the homotopy type of a circle. This is in contrast to the case of smooth, PL locally-flat, and topological locally-flat knots, for which it is known that if the complement has the homotopy type of a circle, then the knot is trivial.
We define homotopy-theoretic invariants of knots in prime 3-manifolds. Fix a knot J in a prime 3-manifold M. Call a knot K in M concordant to J if it cobounds a properly embedded annulus with J in MxI, and call K J-characteristic if there is a degree-one map f:M --> M throwing K onto J and mapping M-K to M-J. These invariants are invariants of concordance and of J-characteristicness when f induces the identity on the fundamental group of M, and may be viewed as extensions of Milnor's invariants. We do not require the knots considered here to be rationally null-homologous or framed.
We construct cohomology classes in the space of knots by considering a bundle over this space and "integrating along the fiber" classes coming from the cohomology of configuration spaces using a Pontrjagin-Thom construction. The bundle we consider is essentially the one considered by Bott and Taubes, who integrated differential forms along the fiber to get knot invariants. By doing this "integration" homotopy-theoretically, we are able to produce integral cohomology classes. We then show how this integration is compatible with the homology operations on the space of long knots, as studied by B…
This work continues the study of a homotopy-theoretic construction of the author inspired by the Bott-Taubes integrals. Bott and Taubes constructed knot invariants by integrating differential forms along the fiber of a bundle over the space of knots. Their techniques were later used by Cattaneo et al. to construct real "Vassiliev-type" cohomology classes in spaces of knots in higher-dimensional Euclidean space. By doing this integration via a Pontrjagin-Thom construction, we constructed cohomology classes in the knot space with arbitrary coefficients. We later showed that a refinement of this …
We continue our investigation of spaces of long embeddings (long embeddings are high-dimensional analogues of long knots). In previous work we showed that when the dimensions are in the stable range, the rational homology groups of these spaces can be calculated as the homology of a direct sum of certain finite graph-complexes, which we described explicitly. In this paper, we establish a similar result for the rational homotopy groups of these spaces. We also put emphasis on different ways how the calculations can be done. In particular we describe three different graph-complexes computing the…
By considering homotopies that preserve the stratification, one obtains a natural notion of homotopy for stratified spaces. In this short note, we introduce invariants of stratified homotopy, the stratified homotopy groups. We show that they satisify a stratified version of Whitehead's theorem. As an example, we introduce a complete knot invariant defined via the stratified homotopy groups ----- En considérant des homotopies préservant la stratification, on obtient une notion naturelle d'homotopie pour les espaces stratifiés. Dans cette note, on présente des invariants d'homotopie stratifiée, …
This paper is a computation of the homotopy type of K, the space of long knots in R^3, the same space of knots studied by Vassiliev via singularity theory. Each component of K corresponds to an isotopy class of long knot, and we `enumerate' the components via the companionship trees associated to the knot. The knots with the simplest companionship trees are: the unknot, torus knots, and hyperbolic knots. The homotopy-type of these components of K were computed by Hatcher. In the case the companionship tree has height, we give a fibre-bundle description of those components of K, recursively, in…
There exists a simplified Bar-Natan Khovanov complex for open 2-braids. The Khovanov cohomology of a knot diagram made by gluing tangles of this type is therefore often amenable to calculation. We lift this idea to the level of the Lipshitz-Sarkar stable homotopy type and use it to make new computations. Similarly, there exists a simplified Khovanov-Rozansky sl_n complex for open 2-braids with oppositely oriented strands and an even number of crossings. Diagrams made by gluing tangles of this type are called matched diagrams, and knots admitting matched diagrams are called bipartite knots. To …
We initiate the homotopical study of racks and quandles, two algebraic structures that govern knot theory and related braided structures in algebra and geometry. We prove analogs of Milnor's theorem on free groups for these theories and their pointed variants, identifying the homotopy types of the free racks and free quandles on spaces of generators. These results allow us to complete the stable classification of racks and quandles by identifying the ring spectra that model their stable homotopy theories. As an application, we show that the stable homotopy of a knot quandle is, in general, mor…
In this paper we study the homotopy type of the partially ordered set of left cosets of abelian subgroups in an extraspecial $p$-group. We prove that the universal cover of its nerve is homotopy equivalent to a wedge of $r$-spheres where $2r \geq 4$ is the rank of its Frattini quotient. This determines the homotopy type of the universal cover of the classifying space of transitionally commutative bundles.
We present two models for the space of knots which have endpoints at fixed boundary points in a manifold with boundary, one model defined as an inverse limit of spaces of maps between configuration spaces and another which is cosimplicial. These models build on the calculus of isotopy functors and are weakly homotopy equivalent to knot spaces when the ambient dimension is greater than three. The mapping space model, and the evaluation map on which it builds, is suitable for analysis through differential topology. The cosimplicial model gives rise to spectral sequences which converge to cohomol…
A topological spherical space form is the quotient of a sphere by a free action of a finite group. In general, their homotopy types depend on specific actions of a group. We show that the monoid of homotopy classes of self-maps of a topological spherical space form is determined by the acting group and the dimension of the sphere, not depending on a specific action.
Assume $Γ$ is a negative-definite forest with exactly one unframed vertex, and $M(Γ)$ is the resulting plumbed 3-manifold with a knot embedded. We show that the filtered lattice chain homotopy type of $Γ$ is an invariant of the diffeomorphism type of $M(Γ)$.
This paper is devoted to the classification of embeddings of higher dimensional manifolds. We study the case of embeddings $S^p\times S^q\to S^m$, which we call knotted tori. The set of knotted tori in the the space of sufficiently high dimension, namely in the metastable range $m\ge p+3q/2+2$, $p\le q$, which is a natural limit for the classical methods of embedding theory, has been explicitely described earlier. The aim of this note is to present an approach which allows for results in lower dimension.
We recursively determine the homotopy type of the space of any irreducible framed link in the 3-sphere, modulo rotations. This leads us to the homotopy type of the space of any knot in the solid torus, thus answering a question posed by Arnold. We similarly study spaces of unframed links in the 3-sphere, modulo rotations, and spaces of knots in the thickened torus. The subgroup of meridional rotations splits as a direct factor of the fundamental group of the space of any framed link except the unknot. Its generators can be viewed as generalizations of the Gramain loop in the space of long knot…
We show that the space of long knots in an euclidean space of dimension larger than three is a double loop space, proving a conjecture by Sinha. We construct also a double loop space structure on framed long knots, and show that the map forgetting the framing is not a double loop map in odd dimension. However there is always such a map in the reverse direction expressing the double loop space of framed long knots as a semidirect product. A similar compatible decomposition holds for the homotopy fiber of the inclusion of long knots into immersions. We show also via string topology that the spac…
We show that for the spaces of spherical embeddings modulo immersions $\bar{Emb}(S^n,S^{n+q})$ and long embeddings modulo immersions $\bar{Emb}_{\partial}(D^n,D^{n+q})$, the set of connected components is isomorphic to $π_{n+1}(SG,SG_q)$ for $q\geq 3$. As a consequence, we show that all the terms of the long exact sequence of the triad $(SG;SO,SG_q)$ have a geometric meaning relating to spherical embeddings and immersions.
The paper describes a natural splitting in the rational homology and homotopy of the spaces of long knots. This decomposition presumably arises from the cabling maps in the same way as a natural decomposition in the homology of loop spaces arises from power maps. The generating function for the Euler characteristics of the terms of this splitting is presented. Based on this generating function we show that both the homology and homotopy ranks of the spaces in question grow at least exponentially. Using natural graph-complexes we show that this splitting on the level of the bialgebra of chord d…
We give an overview of how calculus of the embedding functor can be used for the study of long knots and summarize various results connecting the calculus approach to the rational homotopy type of spaces of long knots, collapse of the Vassiliev spectral sequence, Hochschild homology of the Poisson operad, finite type knot invariants, etc. Some open questions and conjectures of interest are given throughout.
This paper aims to give a one-to-one correspondence between $SU(2)$-representations of knot groups and colorings of knots with spherical quandles and give a geometric meaning of the "trace-free" condition we need to define Casson-Lin invariant.
We initiate the study of classical knots through the homotopy class of the n-th evaluation map of the knot, which is the induced map on the compactified n-point configuration space. Sending a knot to its n-th evaluation map realizes the space of knots as a subspace of what we call the n-th mapping space model for knots. We compute the homotopy types of the first three mapping space models, showing that the third model gives rise to an integer-valued invariant. We realize this invariant in two ways, in terms of collinearities of three or four points on the knot, and give some explicit computati…
Configuration space integrals have in recent years been used for studying the cohomology of spaces of (string) knots and links in $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n>3$ since they provide a map from a certain differential algebra of diagrams to the deRham complex of differential forms on the spaces of knots and links. We refine this construction so that it now applies to the space of homotopy string links -- the space of smooth maps of some number of copies of $\mathbb{R}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with fixed behavior outside a compact set and such that the images of the copies of $\R$ are disjoint -- even for $n=3…
Given a spherical fibration $ξ$ over the classifying space $BG$ of a finite group we define a dimension function for the $m-$fold fiber join of $ξ$ where $m$ is some large positive integer. We show that the dimension functions satisfy the Borel-Smith conditions when $m$ is large enough. As an application we prove that there exists no spherical fibration over the classifying space of $\text{Qd}(p)= (\mathbb{Z}/p)^2\rtimes\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}/p)$ with $p-$effective Euler class, generalizing the result of Özgün Ünlü about group actions on finite complexes homotopy equivalent to a sphere. We hav…
In this paper, we give a new construction of a Khovanov homotopy type. We show that this construction gives a space stably homotopy equivalent to the Khovanov homotopy types constructed in [LS14a] and [HKK] and, as a corollary, that those two constructions give equivalent spaces. We show that the construction behaves well with respect to disjoint unions, connected sums and mirrors, verifying several conjectures from [LS14a]. Finally, combining these results with computations from [LS14c] and the refined s-invariant from [LS14b] we obtain new results about the slice genera of certain knots.
We prove affirmatively the conjecture raised by J. Mostovoy; the space of short ropes is weakly homotopy equivalent to the classifying space of the topological monoid (or category) of long knots in $\mathbb{R}^3$. We make use of techniques developed by S. Galatius and O. Randal-Williams to construct a manifold space model of the classifying space of the space of long knots, and we give an explicit map from the space of short ropes to the model in a geometric way.
This paper gives a partial description of the homotopy type of K, the space of long knots in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. The primary result is the construction of a homotopy equivalence between K and the free little 2-cubes object over the space of prime knots. In proving the freeness result, a close correspondence is discovered between the Jaco-Shalen-Johannson decomposition of knot complements and the little cubes action on K. Beyond studying long knots in 3-space, we show that for any compact manifold M the space of embeddings of R^n x M in R^n x M with support in I^n x M admits an actio…
We show that the Kontsevich operad, as an operad with multiplication, provides a model for the Taylor tower of the functor defined by taking the homotopy fiber of the inclusion of embeddings of an interval in a cube to the corresponding space of immersions. In developing the Kontsevich operad, we find an operad structure on the simplicial model for the two-sphere, in the opposite category to finite sets. Applications of our result include using machinery of McClure-Smith to produce a little two-disk action on our knot spaces.
We compute the $G$-equivariant homotopy type of the real topological cyclic homology of spherical group rings with anti-involution induced by taking inverses in the group, where $G$ denotes the group $Gal(\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{R})$. The real topological Hochschild homology of a spherical group ring $\mathbb{S}[Γ]$, with anti-involution as described, is an $O(2)$-cyclotomic spectrum and we construct a map commuting with the cyclotomic structures from the $O(2)$-equivariant suspension spectrum of the dihedral bar construction on $Γ$ to the real topological Hochschild homology of $\mathbb{S}[Γ]$, wh…
We construct an inverse system of unstable Vassiliev spectral sequences on the spaces of plumbers' knots, which model the homotopy type of the space of long knots, and show that the limit of these sequences contains the finite type invariants in their usual complexity. Utilizing the cell structure on the discriminant of the spaces of plumbers curves, we extend the notion of Vassiliev derivative to all singularity types of plumbers' curves.
Described the algebraic structure on the space of homotopy classes of cycles with marked topological flags of disks. This space is a non-commutative monoid, with an Abelian quotient corresponding to the group of singular homologies $H_k(M)$. For the marked flag contracted to a point the multiplication becomes commutative and the subgroup of spherical cycles corresponds to the usual homotopy group $π_k(M)$.
Consider the space of `long knots' in R^n, K_{n,1}. This is the space of knots as studied by V. Vassiliev. Based on previous work of the authors, it follows that the rational homology of K_{3,1} is free Gerstenhaber-Poisson algebra. A partial description of a basis is given here. In addition, the mod-p homology of this space is a `free, restricted Gerstenhaber-Poisson algebra'. Recursive application of this theorem allows us to deduce that there is p-torsion of all orders in the integral homology of K_{3,1}. This leads to some natural questions about the homotopy type of the space of long knot…
We give the first explicit computations of rational homotopy groups of spaces of "long knots" in Euclidean spaces. We define a spectral sequence which converges to these rational homotopy groups whose E^1 term is defined in terms of braid Lie algebras. For odd k we establish a vanishing line for this spectral sequence, show the Euler characteristic of the rows of this E^1 term is zero, and make calculations of E^2 in a finite range.
