The state-sum invariants for knots and knotted surfaces defined from quandle cocycles are described using the Kronecker product between cycles represented by colored knot diagrams and a cocycle of a finite quandle used to color the diagram. Such an interpretation is applied to evaluating the invariants.
Algebraic interpretations of quandle cocycles as deformations of extensions are also given. The proofs rely on colored knot diagrams.
This paper is a brief overview of some of our recent results in collaboration with other authors. The cocycle invariants of classical knots and knotted surfaces are summarized, and some applications are presented.
Quandle colorings and cocycle invariants are studied for composite knots, and applied to chirality and abelian extensions. The square and granny knots, for example, can be distinguished by quandle colorings, so that a trefoil and its mirror can be distinguished by quandle invariants of composite knots. We investigate this and related phenomena. Quandle cocycle invariants are studied in relation to the connected sum, and formulas are given for computing the cocycle invariant from the number of colorings of composite knots. Relations to corresponding abelian extensions of quandles are studied, a…
The quandle homology theory is generalized to the case when the coefficient groups admit the structure of Alexander quandles, by including an action of the infinite cyclic group in the boundary operator. Theories of Alexander extensions of quandles in relation to low dimensional cocycles are developed in parallel to group extension theories for group cocycles. Explicit formulas for cocycles corresponding to extensions are given, and used to prove non-triviality of cohomology groups for some quandles. The corresponding generalization of the quandle cocycle knot invariants is given, by using the…
Three new knot invariants are defined using cocycles of the generalized quandle homology theory that was proposed by Andruskiewitsch and Graña. We specialize that theory to the case when there is a group action on the coefficients. First, quandle modules are used to generalize Burau representations and Alexander modules for classical knots. Second, 2-cocycles valued in non-abelian groups are used in a way similar to Hopf algebra invariants of classical knots. These invariants are shown to be of quantum type. Third, cocycles with group actions on coefficient groups are used to define quandle co…
The theory of quandle (co)homology and cocycle knot invariants is rapidly being developed. We begin with a summary of these recent advances. One such advance is the notion of a dynamical cocycle. We show how dynamical cocycles can be used to color knotted surfaces that are obtained from classical knots by twist-spinning. We also demonstrate relations between cocycle invariants and Alexander matrices.
Quandle homology theory has been developed and cocycles have been used to define invariants of oriented classical or surface links. We introduce a shifting chain map $σ$ on each quandle chain complex that lowers the dimensions by one. By using its pull-back $σ^\#$, each $2$-cocycle $ϕ$ gives us the $3$-cocycle $σ^\# ϕ$. For oriented classical links in the $3$-space, we explore relation between their quandle $2$-cocycle invariants associated with $ϕ$ and their shadow $3$-cocycle invariants associated with $σ^\# ϕ$. For oriented surface links in the $4$-space, we explore how powerful their quand…
We investigate some algebraic structures called quasi-trivial quandles and we use them to study link-homotopy of pretzel links. Precisely, a necessary and sufficient condition for a pretzel link with at least two components being trivial under link-homotopy is given. We also generalize the quasi-trivial quandle idea to the case of biquandles and consider enhancement of the quasi-trivial biquandle cocycle counting invariant by quasi-trivial biquandle cocycles, obtaining invariants of link-homotopy type of links analogous to the quasi-trivial quandle cocycle invariants in Ayumu Inoue's article a…
We give necessary conditions of a surface-knot to be ribbon concordant to another, by introducing a new variant of the cocycle invariant of surface-knots in addition to using the invariant already known. We demonstrate that twist-spins of some torus knots are not ribbon concordant to their orientation reversed images.
We incorporate quandle cocycle information into the quandle coloring quivers we defined in arXiv:1807.10465 to define weighted directed graph-valued invariants of oriented links we call \textit{quandle cocycle quivers}. This construction turns the quandle cocycle invariant into a small category, yielding a categorification of the quandle cocycleinvariant. From these graphs we define several new link invariants including a 2-variable polynomial which specializes to the usual quandle cocycle invariant. Examples and computations are provided.
Cocycles are constructed by polynomial expressions for Alexander quandles. As applications, non-triviality of some quandle homology groups are proved, and quandle cocycle invariants of knots are studied. In particular, for an infinite family of quandles, the non-triviality of quandle homology groups is proved for all odd dimensions.
K. Cho and S. Nelson introduced the notion of a quandle coloring quiver, which is a quiver-valued link invariant, and a quandle cocycle quiver which is an enhancement of the quandle coloring quiver by assigning to each vertex a weight computed using a quandle 2-cocycle. In this paper, we study quandle coloring quivers using dihedral quandles and introduce the notions of a shadow quandle coloring quiver and a shadow quandle cocycle quiver, which are shadow versions of the quandle coloring quiver and the quandle cocycle quiver. We show that, when we use a dihedral quandle of prime order, the qua…
Quandle 2-cocycles define invariants of classical and virtual knots, and extensions of quandles. We show that the quandle 2-cocycle invariant with respect to a non-trivial $2$-cocycle is constant, or takes some other restricted form, for classical knots when the corresponding extensions satisfy certain algebraic conditions. In particular, if an abelian extension is a conjugation quandle, then the corresponding cocycle invariant is constant. Specific examples are presented from the list of connected quandles of order less than 48. Relations among various quandle epimorphisms involved are also e…
We explore a knot invariant derived from colorings of corresponding $1$-tangles with arbitrary connected quandles. When the quandle is an abelian extension of a certain type the invariant is equivalent to the quandle $2$-cocycle invariant. We construct many such abelian extensions using generalized Alexander quandles without explicitly finding $2$-cocycles. This permits the construction of many $2$-cocycle invariants without exhibiting explicit $2$-cocycles. We show that for connected generalized Alexander quandles the invariant is equivalent to Eisermann's knot coloring polynomial. Computatio…
Relations will be described between the quandle cocycle invariant and the minimal number of colors used for non-trivial Fox colorings of knots and links. In particular, a lower bound for the minimal number is given in terms of the quandle cocycle invariant.
A. Ishii and K. Oshiro introduced the notion of an $f$-twisted Alexander matrix. This notion is a quandle version of the twisted Alexander matrix which was introduced by M. Wada. They showed that the twisted Alexander matrix of a pair of a link group and a group representation can be recovered from the $f$-twisted Alexander matrix of a pair of a link quandle and a quandle homomorphism. In this paper, we study a relationship between the $f$-twisted Alexander matrix and the quandle cocycle invariant. As an application, we show that an $f$-twisted Alexander invariant of knot quandles is a really …
To study embeddings of tangles in knots, we use quandle cocycle invariants. Computations are carried out for the tables of knots and tangles, to investigate which tangles may or may not embed in knots in the tables.
Quandle cocycle invariants form a powerful and well developed tool in knot theory. This paper treats their variations - namely, positive and twisted quandle cocycle invariants, and shadow invariants. We interpret the former as particular cases of the latter. As an application, several constructions from the shadow world are extended to the positive and twisted cases. Another application is a sharpening of twisted quandle cocycle invariants for multi-component links.
In this note we prove that for any finite quandle $X$ and any 2-cocycle $ϕ\in Z^2_{Q\pm}(X; \mathds{Z})$, the cocycle invariant $Φ^{\pm}_ϕ(K)$ is trivial for all knots $K$.
Quandle cocycles are constructed from extensions of quandles. The theory is parallel to that of group cohomology and group extensions. An interpretation of quandle cocycle invariants as obstructions to extending knot colorings is given, and is extended to links component-wise.
We give a construction of quandle cocycles from group cocycles, especially, for any integer p \geq 3, quandle cocycles of the dihedral quandle R_p from group cocycles of the cyclic group Z/p. We will show that a group 3-cocycle of Z/p gives rise to a non-trivial quandle 3-cocycle of R_p. When p is an odd prime, since dim_{F_p} H_Q^3(R_p; F_p) = 1, our 3-cocycle is a constant multiple of the Mochizuki 3-cocycle up to coboundary. Dually, we construct a group cycle represented by a cyclic branched covering branched along a knot K from the quandle cycle associated with a colored diagram of K.
This paper studies the chirality of knotoids using shadow quandle colorings and the shadow quandle cocycle invariant. The shadow coloring number and the shadow quandle cocycle invariant is shown to distinguish infinitely many knotoids from their mirrors. Specifically, the knot-type knotoid $3_1$ is shown to be chiral. The weight of a quandle 3-cocycle is used to calculate the crossing numbers of infinitely many multi-linkoids.
We construct elements of the third quandle homology groups of knot quandles, which are called the shadow fundamental classes. They play the same roles for the shadow quandle cocycle invariants of knots as the fundamental classes of knot quandles does for the quandle cocycle invariants. As an application of the shadow fundamental classes, we show the relation between the shadow quandle cocycle invariants and the based shadow quandle cocycle invariants. Moreover, we will show, for a prime knot, that any third quandle homology classes are considered as images of the shadow fundamental classes of …
We introduce the notion of a quandle with a good involution and its homology groups. Carter et al. defined quandle cocycle invariants for oriented links and oriented surface-links. By use of good involutions, quandle cocyle invariants can be defined for links and surface-links which are not necessarily oriented or orientable. The invariants can be used in order to estimate the minimal triple point numbers of non-orientable surface-links.
We show a de Rham theory for cubical manifolds, and study rational homotopy type of the classifying spaces of smooth quandles. We also show that secondary characteristic classes in \cite{Dup2,DK} produce cocycles of quandles.
Biquandles are generalizations of quandles. As well as quandles, biquandles give us many invariants for oriented classical/virtual/surface links. Some invariants derived from biquandles are known to be stronger than those from quandles for virtual links. However, we have not found an essentially refined invariant for classical/surface links so far. In this paper, we give an explicit one-to-one correspondence between biquandle colorings and quandle colorings for classical/surface links. We also show that biquandle homotopy invariants and quandle homotopy invariants are equivalent. As a byproduc…
Homomorphisms on quandle cohomology groups that raise the dimensions by one are studied in relation to the cocycle state-sum invariants of knots and knotted surfaces. Skein relations are also studied.
This paper is a survey of several papers in quandle homology theory and cocycle knot invariants that have been published recently. Here we describe cocycle knot invariants that are defined in a state-sum form, quandle homology, and methods of constructing non-trivial cohomology classes.
We determine the third cohomology of Alexander quandles of the form F_q[T]/(T-omega), where F_q denotes the finite field of order q and omega is an element of F-q which is neither 0 nor 1. As a result, we obtain many concrete examples of non-trivial 3-cocycles.
We propose a simple method to produce quandle cocycles from group cocycles, as a modification of Inoue-Kabaya chain map. We further show that, in respect to "universal central extended quandles", the chain map induces an isomorphism between their third homologies. For example, all Mochizuki's quandle 3-cocycles are shown to be derived from group cocycles of some non-abelian group. As an application, we calculate some $\Z$-equivariant parts of the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariants of some cyclic branched covering spaces, via some cocycle invariant of links.
T. Mochizuki determined all 3-cocycles of the third quandle cohomologies of Alexander quandles on finite fields. We show that all the 3-cocycles, except those of 2-cocycle forms, are derived from group 3-cocycles of a meta-abelian group. Further, the quandle cocycle invariant of a link using Mochizuki's 3-cocycle is equivalent to a $\Z$-equivariant part of the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariant of a cyclic covering of $S^3$ branched over the link using the group. We compute some Massey triple products via the former invariant.
By using the cohomology theory of quandles, quandle cocycle invariants and shadow quandle cocycle invariants are defined for oriented links and surface-links via broken surface diagrams. By using symmetric quandles, symmetric quandle cocycle invariants are also defined for unoriented links and surface-links via broken surface diagrams. A marked graph diagram is a link diagram possibly with $4$-valent vertices equipped with markers. S. J. Lomonaco, Jr. and K. Yoshikawa introduced a method of describing surface-links by using marked graph diagrams. In this paper, we give interpretations of these…
In CJKLS quandle cohomology is used to produce invariants for particular embeddings of codimension two; 2-cocycles give to invariants for (classical) knots and 3-cocycles give rise to invariants for knotted surfaces. This is done by way of a notion of coloring of a diagram. Also, these invariants have the form of state-sums (or partition functions) used in Statistical Mechanics. By a careful analysis of these colorings of diagrams we are able to come up with new invariants which correspond to calculation of the partition function at finite temperatures.
We introduce the notion of quasi-triviality of quandles and define homology of quasi-trivial quandles. Quandle cocycle invariants are invariant under link-homotopy if they are associated with 2-cocycles of quasi-trivial quandles. We thus obtain a lot of numerical link-homotopy invariants.
State-sum invariants for knotted curves and surfaces using quandle cohomology were introduced by Laurel Langford and the authors in math.GT/9903135 In this paper we present methods to compute the invariants and sample computations. Computer calculations of cohomological dimensions for some quandles are presented. For classical knots, Burau representations together with Maple programs are used to evaluate the invariants for knot table. For knotted surfaces in 4-space, movie methods and surface braid theory are used. Relations between the invariants and symmetries of knots are discussed.
Ishii and Oshiro introduced the notion of an $f$-twisted Alexander matrix, which is a quandle version of a twisted Alexander matrix and defined an invariant of finitely presented quandles. In this paper, we study $f$-twisted Alexander matrices of certain quandles with the Alexander pair obtained from a quandle 2-cocycle. We show that the 0-th elementary ideal of $f$-twisted Alexander matrix of the knot quandle of a surface knot with the Alexander pair obtained from a quandle 2-cocycle can be described with the Carter-Saito-Satoh's invariant. We also discuss a relationship between $f$-twisted A…
We determine the second, third, and fourth cohomology groups of Alexander $f$-quandles of the form $\mathbb{F}_q[T,S]/ (T-ω, S-β)$, where $\mathbb{F}_q$ denotes the finite field of order $q$, $ω\in \mathbb{F}_q\setminus \{0,1\}$, and $β\in \mathbb{F}_q$
A homology theory is developed for set-theoretic Yang-Baxter equations, and knot invariants are constructed by generalized colorings by biquandles and Yang-Baxter cocycles.
We consider the classical problem of a position of n-dimensional manifold M in R^{n+2}. We show that we can define the fundamental (n+1)-cycle and the shadow fundamental (n+2)-cycle for a fundamental quandle of a knotting M to R^{n+2}. In particular, we show that for any fixed quandle, quandle coloring, and shadow quandle coloring, of a diagram of M embedded in R^{n+2} we have (n+1)- and (n+2)-(co)cycle invariants (i.e. invariant under Roseman moves). We speculate on a similar construction for general Yang-Baxter operators.
By 2-twist-spinning the knotted graph that represents the knotted handlebody $5_2$, we obtain a knotted foam in 4-dimensional space with a non-trivial quandle cocycle invariant.
We show that the hyperbolic volume of a hyperbolic knot is a quandle cocycle invariant. Further we show that it completely determines invertibility and positive/negative amphicheirality of hyperbolic knots.
We define ambient isotopy invariants of oriented knots and links using the counting invariants of framed links defined by finite racks. These invariants reduce to the usual quandle counting invariant when the rack in question is a quandle. We are able to further enhance these counting invariants with 2-cocycles from the coloring rack's second rack cohomology satisfying a new degeneracy condition which reduces to the usual case for quandles.
For an oriented knot $K$, we construct a functor from the category of pointed quandles to the category of quandles in three different ways. We also extend the quandle cocycle invariants of knots by using these quandle-valued invariant of knots, and study their properties.
The homology and cohomology of quandles and racks are used in knot theory: given a finite quandle and a cocycle, we can construct a knot invariant. This is a quick introductory survey to the invariants of knots derived from quandles and racks.
Algebraic homology and cohomology theories for quandles have been studied extensively in recent years. With a given quandle 2(3)-cocycle one can define a state-sum invariant for knotted curves(surfaces). In this paper we introduce another version of quandle (co)homology theory, say positive quandle (co)homology. Some properties of positive quandle (co)homology groups are given and some applications of positive quandle cohomology in knot theory are discussed.
The 2-twist spun trefoil is an example of a sphere that is knotted in 4-dimensional space. Here this example is shown to be distinct from the same sphere with the reversed orientation. To demonstrate this fact a state-sum invariant for classical knots and knotted surfaces is developed via a cohomology theory of racks and quandles (also known as distributive groupoids). A quandle is a set with a binary operation --- the axioms of which model the Reidemeister moves in the classical theory of knotted and linked curves in 3-space. Colorings of diagrams of knotted curves and surfaces by quandle ele…
The knot coloring polynomial defined by Eisermann for a finite pointed group is generalized to an infinite pointed group as the longitudinal mapping invariant of a knot. In turn this can be thought of as a generalization of the quandle 2-cocycle invariant for finite quandles. If the group is a topological group then this invariant can be thought of a topological generalization of the 2-cocycle invariant. The longitudinal mapping invariant is based on a meridian-longitude pair in the knot group. We also give an interpretation of the invariant in terms of quandle colorings of a 1-tangle for gene…
We define the fundamental quandle of a spatial graph and several invariants derived from it. In the category of graph tangles, we define an invariant based on the walks in the graph and cocycles from nonabelian quandle cohomology.
The ribbon cocycle invariant is defined by means of a partition function using ternary cohomology of self-distributive structures (TSD) and colorings of ribbon diagrams of a framed link, following the same paradigm introduced by Carter, Jelsovsky, Kamada, Langfor and Saito in Transactions of the American Mathematical Society 2003;355(10):3947-89, for the quandle cocycle invariant. In this article we show that the ribbon cocycle invariant is a quantum invariant. We do so by constructing a ribbon category from a TSD set whose twisting and braiding morphisms entail a given TSD $2$-cocycle. Then w…
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.
We extend the quandle cocycle invariant to oriented singular knots and links using algebraic structures called \emph{oriented singquandles} and assigning weight functions at both regular and singular crossings. This invariant coincides with the classical cocycle invariant for classical knots but provides extra information about singular knots and links. The new invariant distinguishes the singular granny knot from the singular square knot.
This paper demonstrates a topological meaning of quandle cocycle invariants of links with respect to finite connected quandles $X$, from a perspective of homotopy theory: Specifically, for any prime $\ell$ which does not divide the type of $X$, the $\ell$-torsion of this invariants is equal to a sum of the colouring polynomial and a $\Z$-equivariant part of the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariant of a cyclic branched covering space. Moreover, our homotopical approach involves application of computing some third homology groups and second homotopy groups of the classifying spaces of quandles, from resul…
The aim of this paper is to define a homology theory for racks with finite rank N and use it to define invariants of knots generalizing the CJKLS 2-cocycle invariants related to the invariants defined in [15]. For this purpose, we prove that N -degenerate chains form a sub-complex of the classical complex defining rack homology. If a rack has rack rank N = 1 then it is a quandle and our homology theory coincides with the CKJLS homology theory [6]. Nontrivial cocycles are used to define invariants of knots and examples of calculations for classical knots with up to 8 crossings and classical lin…
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 strictl…
