We obtain generalizations of some results of Turaev relating leading order terms of the Turaev torsion of closed, oriented, connected 3-manifolds to certain ``determinants'' derived from cohomology operations such as the alternate trilinear form on the first cohomology group given by cup product. These determinants unfortunately do not generalize directly to compact, connected, oriented 3-manifolds with nonempty boundary, because one must incorporate the cohomology of the manifold relative to its boundary. We define the new determinants that will be needed, and show that with these determinants enjoy a similar relationship to the one given between torsion and the known determinants. These definitions and results are given for integral cohomology, cohomology with coefficients in Z/rZ for certain integers r, and for integral Massey products.
We construct a combinatorial invariant of 3-orbifolds with singular set a link that generalizes the Turaev torsion invariant of 3-manifolds. We give several gluing formulas from which we derive two consequences. The first is an understanding of how the components of the invariant change when we remove a curve from the singular set. The second is a formula relating the invariant of the 3-orbifold to the Turaev torsion invariant of the underlying 3-manifold in the case when the singular set is a nullhomologous knot.
We extend Turaev's theory of Euler structures and torsion invariants on 3-manifolds to the case of vector fields having generic behavior on the boundary. This allows to easily define gluings of Euler structures and to develop a completely general gluing formula for Reidemeister torsion of 3-manifolds. Lastly, we describe a combinatorial presentation of Euler structures via stream-spines, as a tool to effectively compute torsion.
We prove for the Reidemeister-Turaev torsion of closed oriented three-manifolds some finiteness properties in the sense of Goussarov and Habiro, that is, with respect to some cut-and-paste operations which preserve the homology type of the manifolds. In general, those properties require the manifolds to come equipped with an Euler structure and a homological parametrization.
We construct an infinite family of hyperbolic, homologically thin knots that are not quasi-alternating. To establish the latter, we argue that the branched double-cover of each knot in the family does not bound a negative definite 4-manifold with trivial first homology and bounded second betti number. This fact depends in turn on information from the correction terms in Heegaard Floer homology, which we establish by way of a relationship to, and calculation of, the Turaev torsion.
Given an oriented rational homology 3-sphere M, it is known how to associate to any Spin^c-structure σon M two quadratic functions over the linking pairing. One quadratic function is derived from the reduction modulo 1 of the Reidemeister-Turaev torsion of (M,σ), while the other one can be defined using the intersection pairing of an appropriate compact oriented 4-manifold with boundary M. In this paper, using surgery presentations of the manifold M, we prove that those two quadratic functions coincide. Our proof relies on the comparison between two distinct combinatorial descriptions of Spin^…
In this paper we extend and Poincare dualize the concept of Euler structures, introduced by Turaev for manifolds with vanishing Euler-Poincare characteristic, to arbitrary manifolds. We use the Poincare dual concept, co-Euler structures, to remove all geometric ambiguities from the Ray-Singer torsion by providing a slightly modified object which is a topological invariant. We show that when the co-Euler structure is integral then the modified Ray-Singer torsion when regarded as a function on the variety of generically acyclic complex representations of the fundamental group of the manifold is …
We study lens space surgeries along two different families of 2-component links, denoted by $A_{m,n}$ and $B_{p,q}$, related with the rational homology 4-ball used in J.\ Park's (generalized) rational blow down. We determine which coefficient $r$ of the knotted component of the link yields a lens space by Dehn surgery. The link $A_{m,n}$ yields a lens space only by the known surgery with $r=mn$ and unexpectedly with $r=7$ for $(m,n)=(2,3)$. On the other hand, $B_{p,q}$ yields a lens space by infinitely many $r$. Our main tool for the proof is the Reidemeister-Turaev torsions, i.e.\ Reidemeiste…
We give definitions of cohomology determinants for compact, connected, orientable 3-manifolds. We also give formulae relating cohomology determinants before and after gluing a solid torus along a torus boundary component. Cohomology determinants are related to Turaev torsion, though the author hopes that they have other uses as well.
We generalize Turaev's definition of torsion invariants of pairs $(M,ξ)$, where $M$ is a 3-dimensional manifold and $ξ$ is an Euler structure on $M$ (a non-singular vector field up to homotopy relative to the boundary of $M$ and local modifications in the interior of $M$). Namely, we allow $M$ to have arbitrary boundary and $ξ$ to have simple (convex and/or concave) tangency circles to the boundary. We prove that Turaev's $H_1(M)$-equivariance formula holds also in our generalized context. Our torsions apply in particular to (the exterior of) Legendrian links (in particular, knots) in contact …
We introduce and study a canonical quadratic form, called the torsion quadratic form, of the determinant line of a flat vector bundle over a closed oriented odd-dimensional manifold. This quadratic form caries less information than the refined analytic torsion, introduced in our previous work, but is easier to construct and closer related to the combinatorial Farber-Turaev torsion. In fact, the torsion quadratic form can be viewed as an analytic analogue of the Poincare-Reidemeister scalar product, introduced by Farber and Turaev. Moreover, it is also closely related to the complex analytic to…
We generalize Turaev's definition of torsion invariants of pairs (M,x), where M is a 3-dimensional manifold and x is an Euler structure on M (a non-singular vector field up to homotopy relative to bM and local modifications in int(M). Namely, we allow M to have arbitrary boundary and x to have simple (convex and/or concave) tangency circles to the boundary. We prove that Turaev's H_1(M)-equivariance formula holds also in our generalized context. Our torsions apply in particular to (the exterior of) pseudo-Legendrian knots (i.e. knots transversal to a given vector field), and hence to Legendria…
We show that the refined analytic torsion is a holomorphic section of the determinant line bundle over the space of complex representations of the fundamental group of a closed oriented odd dimensional manifold. Further, we calculate the ratio of the refined analytic torsion and the Farber-Turaev combinatorial torsion. As an application, we establish a formula relating the eta-invariant and the phase of the Farber-Turaev torsion, which extends a theorem of Farber and earlier results of ours. This formula allows to study the spectral flow using methods of combinatorial topology.
These notes accompany some lectures given at the autumn school "Tresses in Pau" in October 2009. The abelian Reidemeister torsion for 3-manifolds, and its refinements by Turaev, are introduced. Some applications, including relations between the Reidemeister torsion and other classical invariants, are surveyed.
We extend Turaev's definition of torsion invariants of 3-dimensional manifolds equipped with non-singular vector fields, by allowing (suitable) tangency circles to the boundary, and manifolds with non-zero Euler characteristic. We show that these invariants apply in particular to (the exterior of) Legendrian links in contact 3-manifolds. Our approach uses a combinatorial encoding of vector fields, based on standard spines. In this paper we extend this encoding from closed manifolds to manifolds with boundary.
We use Reidemeister torsion to study a twisted Alexander polynomial, as defined by Turaev, for links in the projective space. Using sign-refined torsion we derive a skein relation for a normalized form of this polynomial.
We construct a canonical element, called the refined analytic torsion, of the determinant line of the cohomology of a closed oriented odd-dimensional manifold M with coefficients in a flat complex vector bundle E. We compute the Ray-Singer norm of the refined analytic torsion. In particular, if there exists a flat Hermitian metric on E, we show that this norm is equal to 1. We prove a duality theorem, establishing a relationship between the refined analytic torsions corresponding to a flat connection and its dual.
This is the second paper in this series. Following the setup of Meng-Taubes, we define the monopole Floer homology for any pair $(Y,ω)$, where $Y$ is a compact oriented 3-manifold with toroidal boundary and $ω$ is a suitable closed 2-form viewed as a decoration. This construction fits into a (3+1)-topological quantum field theory and generalizes the work of Kronheimer-Mrowka for closed oriented 3-manifolds. By a theorem of Meng-Taubes and Turaev, the Euler characteristic of this Floer homology recovers the Milnor-Turaev torsion invariant of the 3-manifold.
This survey covers some of the results contained in the papers by Costantino, Geer and Patureau (https://arxiv.org/abs/1202.3553) and by Blanchet, Costantino, Geer and Patureau (https://arxiv.org/abs/1404.7289). In the first one the authors construct two families of Reshetikhin-Turaev-type invariants of 3-manifolds, $\mathrm{N}_r$ and $\mathrm{N}^0_r$, using non-semisimple categories of representations of a quantum version of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$ at a $2r$-th root of unity with $r \geqslant 2$. The secondary invariants $\mathrm{N}^0_r$ conjecturally extend the original Reshetikhin-Turaev quantum …
We study the asymptotic behavior of the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev invariant associated with the square of the $n$-th root of unity with odd $n$ for a Seifert fibered space obtained by an integral Dehn surgery along a torus knot. We show that it can be described as a sum of the Chern-Simons invariants and the twisted Reidemeister torsions both associated with representations of the fundamental group to the two-dimensional complex special linear group.
Manifolds with fibered cusps are a class of complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds including all locally symmetric spaces of rank one. We study the spectrum of the Hodge Laplacian with coefficients in a flat bundle on a closed manifold undergoing degeneration to a manifold with fibered cusps. We obtain precise asymptotics for the resolvent, the heat kernel, and the determinant of the Laplacian. Using these asymptotics we obtain a topological description of the analytic torsion on a manifold with fibered cusps in terms of the R-torsion of the underlying manifold with boundary.
This is a companion paper to earlier work of the authors, which interprets the Heegaard Floer homology for a manifold with torus boundary in terms of immersed curves in a punctured torus. We prove a variety of properties of this invariant, paying particular attention to its relation to knot Floer homology, the Thurston norm, and the Turaev torsion. We also give a geometric description of the gradings package from bordered Heegaard Floer homology and establish a symmetry under spin$^c$ conjugation; this symmetry gives rise to genus one mutation invariance in Heegaard Floer homology for closed t…
