For any n>1 we define an isotopy invariant, <Gamma>_n, for a certain set of n-valent ribbon graphs Gamma in R^3, including all framed oriented links. We show that our bracket coincides with the Kauffman bracket for n=2 and with the Kuperberg's bracket for n=3. Furthermore, we prove that for any n, our bracket of a link L is equal, up to normalization, to the SU_n-quantum invariant of L. We show a number of properties of our bracket extending those of the Kauffman's and Kuperberg's brackets, and we relate it to the bracket of Murakami-Ohtsuki-Yamada. Finally, on the basis of the skein relations satisfied by <.>_n, we define the SU_n-skein module of any 3-manifold M and we prove that it determines the SL_n-character variety of pi_1(M).
The aim of this paper is to define two link invariants satisfying cubic skein relations. In the hierarchy of polynomial invariants determined by explicit skein relations they are the next level of complexity after Jones, HOMFLY, Kauffman and Kuperberg's $G_2$ quantum invariants. Our method consists in the study of Markov traces on a suitable tower of quotients of cubic Hecke algebras extending Jones approach.
Pulling back the weight system associated with the exceptional Lie algebra G_2 by a modification of the universal Vassiliev-Kontsevich invariant yields a link invariant; extending it to 3-nets, we derive a recursive algorithm for its evaluation.
In this paper, we use skein-theoretic techniques to classify all virtual knot polynomials and trivalent graph invariants with certain smallness conditions. The first half of the paper classifies all virtual knot polynomials giving non-trivial invariants strictly smaller than the one given by the Higman-Sims spin model. In particular, we exhibit a family of skein theories coming from $\text{Rep}(O(2))$ with an interesting braiding. In addition, all skein theories of oriented virtual tangles with some smallness conditions are classified. In the second half of the paper, we classify all non-trivi…
We study the behavior of the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev SU(2) invariants of links in L(p,q) as a function of the level r-2. They are given by 1 over the square root of r times one of p Laurent polynomials evaluated at e to the 2 pi i divided by 4pr. The congruence class of r modulo p determines which polynomial is applicable. If p is zero modulo four, the meridian of L(p,q) is non-trivial in the skein module but has trivial Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev SU(2) invariants. On the other hand, we show that one may recover the element in the Kauffman bracket skein module of L(p,q) represented by a link …
Pulling back the weight systems associated with the exceptional Lie algebras and their standard representations by a modification of the universal Vassiliev-Kontsevich invariant yields link invariants; extending them to coloured 3-nets, we derive for each of them a skein relation.
We determine the skein-valued Gromov-Witten partition function for a single toric Lagrangian brane in $\mathbb{C}^3$ or the resolved conifold. We first show geometrically they must satisfy a certain skein-theoretic recursion, and then solve this equation. The recursion is a skein-valued quantization of the equation of the mirror curve. The solution is the expected hook-content formula.
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…
We introduce a new class of quantum enhancements we call biquandle brackets, which are customized skein invariants for biquandle colored links.Quantum enhancements of biquandle counting invariants form a class of knot and link invariants that includes biquandle cocycle invariants and skein invariants such as the HOMFLY-PT polynomial as special cases, providing an explicit unification of these apparently unrelated types of invariants. We provide examples demonstrating that the new invariants are not determined by the biquandle counting invariant, the knot quandle, the knot group or the traditio…
Skein modules are the main objects of an algebraic topology based on knots (or position). In the same spirit as Leibniz we would call our approach "algebra situs." When looking at the panorama of skein modules we see, past the rolling hills of homologies and homotopies, distant mountains - the Kauffman bracket skein module, and farther off in the distance skein modules based on other quantum invariants. We concentrate here on the basic properties of the Kauffman bracket skein module; properties fundamental in further development of the theory. In particular we consider the relative Kauffman br…
In this paper, we investigate the properties of the full colored HOMFLYPT invariants in the full skein of the annulus $\mathcal{C}$. We show that the full colored HOMFLYPT invariant has a nice structure when $q\rightarrow 1$. The composite invariant is a combination of the full colored HOMFLYPT invariants. In order to study the framed LMOV type conjecture for composite invariants, we introduce the framed reformulated composite invariant $\check{\mathcal{R}}_{p}(\mathcal{L})$. By using the HOMFLY skein theory, we prove that $\check{\mathcal{R}}_{p}(\mathcal{L})$ lies in the ring $2\mathbb{Z}[(q…
We generalize the asymptotic faithfulness of the skein quantum $SU(2)$ representations of mapping class groups of orientable closed surfaces to skein $SU(3)$. Skein quantum representations of mapping class groups are different from the Reshetikin-Turaev ones from quantum groups or geometric quantization because they are given by different modular tensor categories. We conjecture asymptotic faithfulness holds for skein quantum $G$ representations when $G$ is a simply-connected simple Lie group. The difficulty for such a generalization lies in the lack of an explicit description of the fusion sp…
We use recoupling theory to study the Kauffman bracket skein module of the quaternionic manifold over Z[A,A^{-1}] localized by inverting all the cyclotomic polynomials. We prove that the skein module is spanned by five elements. Using the quantum invariants of these skein elements and the Z_2 homology of the manifold, we determine that they are linearly independent.
Algebra Situs is a branch of mathematics which has its roots in Jones' construction of his polynomial invariant of links and Drinfeld's work on quantum groups. It encompasses the theory of quantum invariants of knots and 3-manifolds, algebraic topology based on knots, operads, planar algebras, q-deformations, quantum groups, and overlaps with algebraic geometry, non-commutative geometry and statistical mechanics. Algebraic topology based on knots may be characterized as a study of properties of manifolds by considering links (submanifolds) in a manifold and their algebraic structure. The main …
For each closed, orientable surface F, we construct a local, diffeomorphism invariant trace on the Kauffman bracket skein module K_t(F x [0,1]). The trace is defined when |t| is neither 0 nor 1, and at certain roots of unity. At t = - 1, the trace is integration against the symplectic measure on the SU(2) character variety of the fundamental group of F.
Colored HOMFLY-PT invariant, the generalization of the colored Jones polynomial, is one of the most important quantum invariants of links. This paper is devoted to investigating the basic structures of the colored HOMFLY-PT invariants of links. By using the HOMFLY-PT skein theory, firstly, we show that the (reformulated) colored HOMFLY-PT invariants actually lie in the ring $\mathbb{Z}[(q-q^{-1})^2,t^{\pm 1}]$. Secondly, we establish some symmetric formulas for colored HOMFLY-PT invariants of links, which include the rank-level duality as an easy consequence. Finally, motivated by the Labastid…
By introducing a finer version of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra, we show how to decompose the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of a surface into elementary blocks corresponding to the triangles in an ideal triangulation of the surface. The new skein algebra of an ideal triangle has a simple presentation. This gives an easy proof of the existence of the quantum trace map of Bonahon and Wong. We also explain the relation between our skein algebra and the one defined by Muller, and use it to show that the quantum trace map can be extended to the Muller skein algebra.
Biquandle brackets define invariants of classical and virtual knots and links using skein invariants of biquandle-colored knots and links. Biquandle coloring quivers categorify the biquandle counting invariant in the sense of defining quiver-valued enhancements which decategorify to the counting invariant. In this paper we unite the two ideas to define biquandle bracket quivers, providing new categorifications of biquandle brackets. In particular, our construction provides an infinite family of categorifications of the Jones polynomial and other classical skein invariants.
We obtain a family of skein identities in the Kauffman bracket skein module which relate Frobenius elements to Jones-Wenzl projectors at roots of unity. We view these skein identities as certain incarnations of Steinberg tensor product formulae from the theory of tilting modules of the quantum group $U_q(sl_2)$. We show that the simplest skein identities yield a short new proof of the existence of the Chebyshev-Frobenius homomorphism of Bonahon-Wong.
We investigate aspects of Kauffman bracket skein algebras of surfaces and modules of 3-manifolds using quantum torus methods. These methods come in two flavors: embedding the skein algebra into a quantum torus related to quantum Teichmuller space, or filtering the algebra and obtaining an associated graded algebra that is a monomial subalgebra of a quantum torus. We utilize the former method to generalize the Chebyshev homomorphism of Bonahon and Wong between skein algebras of surfaces to a Chebyshev-Frobenius homomorphism between skein modules of marked 3-manifolds, in the course of which we …
Let $F$ be a finite type surface and $ζ$ a complex root of unity. The Kauffman bracket skein algebra $K_ζ(F)$ is an important object in both classical and quantum topology as it has relations to the character variety, the Teichmüller space, the Jones polynomial, and the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev Topological Quantum Field Theories. We compute the rank and trace of $K_ζ(F)$ over its center, and we extend a theorem of Frohman and Kania-Bartoszynska which says the skein algebra has a splitting coming from two pants decompositions of $F$.
In this paper we study the skein algebras of marked surfaces and the skein modules of marked 3-manifolds. Muller showed that skein algebras of totally marked surfaces may be embedded in easy to study algebras known as quantum tori. We first extend Muller's result to permit marked surfaces with unmarked boundary components. The addition of unmarked components allows us to develop a surgery theory which enables us to extend the Chebyshev homomorphism of Bonahon and Wong between skein algebras of unmarked surfaces to a "Chebyshev-Frobenius homomorphism" between skein modules of marked 3-manifolds…
We consider hyperbolic links that admit alternating projections on surfaces in compact, irreducible 3-manifolds. We show that, under some mild hypotheses, the volume of the complement of such a link is bounded below in terms of a Kauffman bracket function defined on link diagrams on the surface. In the case that the 3-manifold is a thickened surface, this Kauffman bracket function leads to a Jones-type polynomial that is an isotopy invariant of links. We show that coefficients of this polynomial provide 2-sided linear bounds on the volume of hyperbolic alternating links in the thickened surfac…
We study the skein relation that governs the HOMFLYPT invariant of links colored by one-column Young diagrams. Our main result is a categorification of this colored skein relation. This takes the form of a homotopy equivalence between two one-sided twisted complexes constructed from Rickard complexes of singular Soergel bimodules associated to braided webs. Along the way, we prove a conjecture of Beliakova--Habiro relating the colored 2-strand full twist complex with the categorical ribbon element for quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_2$.
For the one-parameter Alexander (Jones) skein relation we introduce the Alexander (Jones) "bosonic" q-numbers, and for the two-parameter HOMFLY skein relation we propose the HOMFLY "bosonic" (q,p)-numbers ("bosonic" numbers connected with deformed bosonic oscillators). With the help of these deformed "bosonic" numbers, the corresponding skein relations can be reproduced. Analyzing the introduced "bosonic" numbers, we point out two ways of obtaining the two-parameter HOMFLY skein relation ("bosonic" (q,p)-numbers) from the one-parameter Alexander and Jones skein relations (from the correspondin…
We relate the Kauffman bracket stated skein modules to two independent constructions of quantum representation spaces of Habiro and Van der Veen with the second author. We deduce from this relation a description of the classical limit of stated skein modules, a quantum Van Kampen theorem and a quantum HNN extension theorem for stated skein modules and obtain a new description of the skein modules of mapping tori and links exteriors.
We introduce an infinite family of quantum enhancements of the biquandle counting invariant we call biquandle virtual brackets. Defined in terms of skein invariants of biquandle colored oriented knot and link diagrams with values in a commutative ring $R$ using virtual crossings as smoothings, these invariants take the form of multisets of elements of $R$ and can be written in a "polynomial" form for convenience. The family of invariants defined herein includes as special cases all quandle and biquandle 2-cocycle invariants, all classical skein invariants (Alexander-Conway, Jones, HOMFLYPT and…
For each oriented surface $Σ$ of genus $g$ we study a limit of quantum representations of the mapping class group arising in TQFT derived from the Kauffman bracket. We determine that these representations converge in the Fell topology to the representation of the mapping class group on $\boH(Σ)$, the space of regular functions on the $SL(2,\C)$ representation variety with its hermitian structure coming from the symplectic structure of the SU(2)-representation variety. As a corollary, we give a new proof of the asymptotic faithfulness of quantum representations.
We give skein theoretic formulas for minimal idempotents in the Birman-Murakami-Wenzl algebras. These formulas are then applied to derive various known results needed in the construction of quantum invariants and modular categories. In particular, an elementary proof of the Wenzl formula for quantum dimensions is given. This proof does not use the representation theory of quantum groups and the character formulas.
The expectation value of a Wilson loop in a Chern--Simons theory is a knot invariant. Its skein relations have been derived in a variety of ways, including variational methods in which small deformations of the loop are made and the changes evaluated. The latter method only allowed to obtain approximate expressions for the skein relations. We present a generalization of this idea that allows to compute the exact form of the skein relations. Moreover, it requires to generalize the resulting knot invariants to intersecting knots and links in a manner consistent with the Mandelstam identities sat…
We compute two-term skein modules of framed oriented links in oriented 3-manifolds. They contain the self-writhe and total linking number invariants of framed oriented links in a universal way. The relations in a natural presentation of the skein module are interpreted as monodromies in the space of immersions from circles to the 3-manifold.
We define the Conway skein module C(M) of ordered based links in a 3-manifold M. This module gives rise to C(M)-valued invariants of usual links in M. We determine a basis of the Z[z]-module C(F x [0,1])/Tor(C(F x [0,1])) where F is the real projective plane or a surface with boundary. For cylinders over the Moebius strip or the projective plane we derive special properties of the Conway skein module, including a refinement of a theorem of Kawauchi and Hartley about the Conway polynomial of strongly positive amphicheiral knots in S^3. We also determine the Homfly and Kauffman skein modules of …
We develop an explicit skein theoretical algorithm to compute the Alexander polynomial of a 3-manifold from a surgery presentation employing the methods used in the construction of quantum invariants of 3-manifolds. As a prerequisite we establish and prove a rather unexpected equivalence between the topological quantum field theory constructed by Frohman and Nicas using the intersection homology of U(1)-representation varieties on the one side and the combinatorially constructed Hennings-TQFT based on the quasitriangular Hopf algebra ${\cal N}=\Z/2\ltimes \ext *\R^2$ on the other side. We find…
The Kauffman bracket skein module $K(M)$ of a 3-manifold $M$ is defined over formal power series in the variable $h$ by letting $A=e^{h/4}$. For a compact oriented surface $F$, it is shown that $K(F \times I)$ is a quantization of the $\g$-characters of the fundamental group of $F$, corresponding to a geometrically defined Poisson bracket. Finite type invariants for unoriented knots and links are defined. Topologically free Kauffman bracket modules are shown to generate finite type invariants. It is shown for compact $M$ that $K(M)$ can be generated as a module by cables on a finite set of kno…
Khovanov defined graded homology groups for links L in R^3 and showed that their polynomial Euler characteristic is the Jones polynomial of L. Khovanov's construction does not extend in a straightforward way to links in I-bundles M over surfaces F not D^2 (except for the homology with Z/2 coefficients only). Hence, the goal of this paper is to provide a nontrivial generalization of his method leading to homology invariants of links in M with arbitrary rings of coefficients. After proving the invariance of our homology groups under Reidemeister moves, we show that the polynomial Euler character…
We give an exposition of how the Kauffman bracket arises for certain systems of anyons, and do so outside the usual arena of Temperley-Lieb-Jones categories. This is further elucidated through the discussion of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra and its relation to modular tensor categories. We then proceed to classify the framed link-invariants associated to a system of self-dual anyons $q$ with $\sum_{x}N_{qq}^{x}\leq2$. In particular, we construct a trace on the HOMFLY skein algebra which can be expanded via gauge-invariant quantities, thereby generalising the case of the Kauffman bracket. Various e…
We study framed links in irreducible 3-manifolds that are $Z$-homology 3-spheres or atoroidal $Q$-homology 3-spheres. We calculate the dual of the Kauffman skein module over the ring of two variable power series with complex coefficients. For links in $S^3$ we give a new construction of the classical Kauffman polynomial.
