We construct a functor from the category of oriented tangles in R^3 to the category of Hermitian modules and Lagrangian relations over Z[t,t^{-1}]. This functor extends the Burau representations of the braid groups and its generalization to string links due to Le Dimet.
We discuss several open problems in classical Knot Theory and we develop techniques that allow us to study them: Lagrangian tangles, skein modules and Burnside groups.
For a diagram of a 2-stranded tangle in the 3-ball we define a twisted complex of compact Lagrangians in the triangulated envelope of the Fukaya category of the smooth locus of the pillowcase. We show that this twisted complex is a functorial invariant of the isotopy class of the tangle, and that it provides a factorization of Bar-Natan's functor from the tangle cobordism category to chain complexes. In particular, the hom set of our invariant with a particular non-compact Lagrangian associated to the trivial tangle is naturally isomorphic to the reduced Khovanov chain complex of the closure o…
We construct a weak 2-functor from the bicategory of oriented tangles to a bicategory of Lagrangian cospans. This functor simultaneously extends the Burau representation of the braid groups, its generalization to tangles due to Turaev and the first-named author, and the Alexander module of 1 and 2-dimensional links.
The paper addresses the $k$-tangle enumeration problem. We introduce a notion of cascade diagram for $k$-tangle projections. An effective enumeration algorithm for projections is proposed based on cascade representation. Tangles projections with up to 12 crossings are tabulated. We provide also pictures of alternating $k$-tangles with 5 crossing or less.
A tangle is an oriented 1-submanifold of the cylinder whose endpoints lie on the two disks in the boundary of the cylinder. Using an algebraic tool developed by Lescop, we extend the Burau representation of braids to a functor from the category of oriented tangles to the category of Z[t,t^{-1}]-modules. For (1,1)-tangles (i.e., tangles with one endpoint on each disk) this invariant coincides with the Alexander polynomial of the link obtained by taking the closure of the tangle. We use the notion of plat position of a tangle to give a constructive proof of invariance in this case.
Let $q$ be a $2N$th root of unity where $N$ is odd. Let $U_q(sl_2)$ denote the quantum group with large center corresponding to the lie algebra $sl_2$ with generators $E,F,K$, and $K^{-1}$. A semicyclic representation of $U_q(sl_2)$ is an $N$-dimensional irreducible representation $ρ:U_q(sl_2)\rightarrow M_N(\mathbb{C})$, so that $ρ(E^N)=aId$ with $a\neq 0$, $ρ(F^N)=0$ and $ρ(K^N)=Id$. We construct a tangle functor for framed homogeneous tangles colored with semicyclic representations, and prove that for $(1,1)$-tangles coming from knots, the invariant defined by the tangle functor coincides w…
Given a 2-stranded tangle in a $\ZZ/2$ homology ball, $T\subset Y$, we investigate the character variety $R(Y,T)$ of conjugacy classes of traceless SU(2) representations of $π_1(Y\setminus T)$. In particular we completely determine the subspace of binary dihedral representations, and identify all of $R(Y,T)$ for many tangles naturally associated to knots in S^3. Moreover, we determine the image of the restriction map from $R(T,Y)$ to the traceless SU(2) character variety of the 4-punctured 2-sphere (the {\it pillowcase}). We give examples to show this image can be non-linear in general, and sh…
We define an elementary relatively $\mathbb Z/4$ graded Lagrangian-Floer chain complex for restricted immersions of compact 1-manifolds into the pillowcase, and apply it to the intersection diagram obtained by taking traceless $SU(2)$ character varieties of 2-tangle decompositions of knots. Calculations for torus knots are explained in terms of pictures in the punctured plane. The relation to the reduced instanton homology of knots is explored.
Ribbon tangles are proper embeddings of tori and cylinders in the $4$-ball~$B^4$, "bounding" $3$-manifolds with only ribbon disks as singularities. We construct an Alexander invariant $\mathsf{A}$ of ribbon tangles equipped with a representation of the fundamental group of their exterior in a free abelian group $G$. This invariant induces a functor in a certain category $\mathsf{R}ib_G$ of tangles, which restricts to the exterior powers of Burau-Gassner representation for ribbon braids, that are analogous to usual braids in this context. We define a circuit algebra $\mathsf{C}ob_G$ over the op…
In this paper we study how to distinguish two embeddings of a finite collection of disjoint circles into the plane up to planar isotopy. We adopt the spirit of the approach by V. Turaev, Operator Invariants of Tangles, Math. USSR-Izv. 35 (1990), 411--444, by considering a category of planar tangles and representing it in an ``algebraic'' category. From this we can extract a numerical invariant for embeddings of a finite collection of disjoint circles and this invariant is, up to certain choices, complete.
We introduce explicit holonomy perturbations of the Chern-Simons functional on a 3-ball containing a pair of unknotted arcs. These perturbations give us a concrete local method for making the moduli spaces of flat singular SO(3) connections relevant to Kronheimer and Mrowka's singular instanton knot homology non-degenerate. The mechanism for this study is a (Lagrangian) intersection diagram which arises, through restriction of representations, from a tangle decomposition of a knot. When one of the tangles is trivial, our perturbations allow us to study isolated intersections of two Lagrangians…
With a 4-ended tangle $T$, we associate a Heegaard Floer invariant $\operatorname{CFT^\partial}(T)$, the peculiar module of $T$. Based on Zarev's bordered sutured Heegaard Floer theory, we prove a glueing formula for this invariant which recovers link Floer homology $\operatorname{\widehat{HFL}}$. Moreover, we classify peculiar modules in terms of immersed curves on the 4-punctured sphere. In fact, based on an algorithm of Hanselman, Rasmussen and Watson, we prove general classification results for the category of curved complexes over a marked surface with arc system. This allows us to reinte…
This paper is based on my talks (`Skein modules with a cubic skein relation: properties and speculations' and `Symplectic structure on colorings, Lagrangian tangles and its applications') given in Kyoto (RIMS), September 11 and September 18 respectively, 2001. The first three sections closely follow the talks: starting from elementary moves on links and ending on applications to unknotting number motivated by a skein module deformation of a 3-move. The theory of skein modules is outlined in the problem section of these proceedings. In the first section we make the point that despite its long h…
We construct an algebraic version of Lagrangian Floer homology for immersed curves inside the pillowcase. We first associate to the pillowcase an algebra A. Then to an immersed curve L inside the pillowcase we associate an A infinity module M(L) over A. Then we prove that Lagrangian Floer homology HF(L,L') is isomorphic to a suitable algebraic pairing of modules M(L) and M(L'). This extends the pillowcase homology construction - given a 2-stranded tangle inside a 3-ball, if one obtains an immersed unobstructed Lagrangian inside the pillowcase, one can further associate an A infinity module to …
We make a new attempt at the recently suggested program to express knot polynomials through topological vertices, which can be considered as a possible approach to the tangle calculus: we discuss the Macdonald deformation of the relation between the convolution of two topological vertices and the HOMFLY-PT invariant of the 4-component link $L_{8n8}$, which both depend on four arbitrary representations. The key point is that both of these are related to the Hopf polynomials in composite representations, which are in turn expressed through composite Schur functions. The latter are further expres…
This paper introduces a submanifold of the moduli space of unitary representations of the fundamental group of a punctured sphere with fixed local monodromy. The submanifold is defined via products of involutions through Lagrangian subspaces. We show that the moduli space of Lagrangian representations is a Lagrangian submanifold of the moduli of unitary representations.
We show that we can release the rigidity of the skew Howe duality process for ${\mathfrak sl}_n$ knot invariants by rescaling the quantum Weyl group action, and recover skein modules for web-tangles. This skew Howe duality phenomenon can be extended to the affine ${\mathfrak sl}_m$ case, corresponding to looking at tangles embedded in a solid torus. We investigate the relations between the invariants constructed by evaluation representations (and affinization of them) and usual skein modules, and give tools for interpretations of annular skein modules as sub-algebras of intertwiners for partic…
In 1985 lectures at MSRI, A. Casson introduced an interesting integer valued invariant for any oriented integral homology 3-sphere Y via beautiful constructions on representation spaces (see [1] for an exposition). The Casson invariant λ(Y) is roughly defined by measuring the oriented number of irreducible representations of the fundamental group π_1(Y) in SU(2). Such an invariant generalized the Rohlin invariant and gives surprising corollaries in low dimensional topology.
Kashaev and Reshetikhin proposed a generalization of the Reshetikhin-Turaev link invariant construction to tangles with a flat connection in a principal G-bundle over the complement of the tangle. The purpose of this paper is to adapt and renormalize their construction to define invariants of G-links using the semi-cyclic representations of the non-restricted quantum group associated to sl2, defined by De Concini and Kac. Our construction uses a modified Markov trace. In our main example, the semi-cyclic invariants are a natural extension of the generalized Alexander polynomial invariants defi…
We use an elliptic differential equation of Tzitzeica type to construct a minimal Lagrangian surface in CH2 from the data of a compact hyperbolic Riemann surface and a small holomorphic cubic differential. The minimal Lagrangian surface is invariant under an SU(2,1) action of the fundamental group. We further parameterise a neighborhood of the R-Fuchsian representations in the representation space by pairs consisting of a point in Teichmuller space and a small cubic differential. By constructing a fundamental domain, we show these representations are complex-hyperbolic quasi-Fuchsian, thus rec…
We introduce the notion of a local torus action modeled on the standard representation (for simplicity, we call it a local torus action). It is a generalization of a locally standard torus action and also an underlying structure of a locally toric Lagrangian fibration. For a local torus action, we define two invariants called a characteristic pair and an Euler class of the orbit map, and prove that local torus actions are classified topologically by them. As a corollary, we obtain a topological classification of locally standard torus actions, which is a generalization of the topological class…