This paper is an exposition of heuristics related to Witten's functional integral, relating it to Vassiliev invariants and to the Kontsevich integrals that can be used to produce Vassiliev invariants of knots and links.In particular, we give a simplified version of the appearance of the Kontsevich integrals in the perturbation expansion of the functional integral.
We construct an extension of the Kontsevich integral of knots to knotted trivalent graphs, which commutes with orientation switches, edge deletions, edge unzips, and connected sums. In 1997 Murakami and Ohtsuki [MO] first constructed such an extension, building on Drinfel'd's theory of associators. We construct a step by step definition, using elementary Kontsevich integral methods, to get a one-parameter family of corrections that all yield invariants well behaved under the graph operations above.
We introduce an algebra bundle of chord diagrams over the configuration space of N points in the complex plane on which we put the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov connection. For that particular connection, the holonomy along a loop in the base is shown to be generating the Kontsevich integral for that loop's associated braid.
This is a substantially revised version. The Kontsevich integral of a knot is a graph-valued invariant which (when graded by the Vassiliev degree of graphs) is characterized by a universal property; namely it is a universal Vassiliev invariant of knots. We introduce a second grading of the Kontsevich integral, the Euler degree, and a geometric null-move on the set of knots. We explain the relation of the null-move to S-equivalence, and the relation to the Euler grading of the Kontsevich integral. The null move leads in a natural way to the introduction of trivalent graphs with beads, and to a …
We formulate a conjecture (already proven by A. Kricker) about the structure of Kontsevich integral of a knot. We describe its value in terms of the generating functions for the numbers of external edges attached to closed 3-valent diagrams. We conjecture that these functions are rational functions of the exponentials of their arguments, their denominators being the powers of the Alexander-Conway polynomial. This conjecture implies the existence of an expansion of a colored Jones (HOMFLY) polynomial in powers of q-1 whose coefficients are rational functions of q^color. We show how to derive th…
This work develops some technology for accessing the loop expansion of the Kontsevich integral of a knot. The setting is an application of the LMO invariant to certain surgery presentations of knots by framed links in the solid torus. A consequence of this technology is a certain recent conjecture of Rozansky's. Rozansky conjectured that the Kontsevich integral could be organised into a series of ``lines'' which could be represented by finite $\Qset$-linear combinations of diagrams whose edges were labelled, in an appropriate sense, with rational functions. Furthermore, the conjecture requires…
In this note, we calculate the leading term of the rational lift of the Kontsevich integral, introduced by Garoufalidis and Kricker, on the boundary of an embedded grope of class 2n. We observe that it lies in the subspace spanned by connected diagrams of Euler degree 2n-2 which have a bead t-1 on a single edge. This places severe algebraic restrictions on the sort of knots that can bound gropes, and in particular implies the two main results of the author's thesis, at least over the rationals.
In this paper, we shall give an explicit Gauss diagram formula for the Kontsevich integral of links up to degree four. This practical formula enables us to actually compute the Kontsevich integral in a combinatorial way.
This article is the continuation of our first article (math/9901028). It shows how the zero-anomaly result of Yang implies the equality between the configuration space integral and the Kontsevich integral.
The integrality of the Kontsevich integral and perturbative invariants is discussed. We show that the denominator of the degree $n$ part of the Kontsevich integral of any knot or link is a divisor of $(2!3!... n!)^4(n+1)!$. We also show that the denominator of of the degree $n$ part of the universal perturbative invariant of homology 3-spheres is not divisible by any prime greater than $2n+1$.
We introduce a "minimal" Kontsevich integral that generates the original Kontsevich integral while at the same time producing ribbons whose boundaries are the braids on which the minimal Kontsevich integral is evaluated. We generalize the definition of the Kontsevich integral to that of graphs in R^3 and study the behavior of such expressions as different graphs are brought together, thus leading to a 2-dimensional generalization of the Kontsevich integral.
Given a Lie algebra with a scalar product, one may consider the latter as a symplectic structure on a $dg$-scheme, which is the spectrum of the Chevalley--Eilenberg algebra. In the first section we explicitly calculate the first order deformation of the differential on the Hochschild complex of the Chevalley--Eilenberg algebra. The answer contains the Duflo character. This calculation is used in the last section. There we sketch the definition of the Wilson loop invariant of knots, which is hopefully equal to the Kontsevich integral, and show that for unknot they coincide. As a byproduct we ge…
We study the 2-loop part of the rational Kontsevich integral of a knot in an integer homology sphere. We give a general formula which explains how the 2-loop part of the Kontsevich integral of a knot changes after surgery on a single clasper whose leaves are not linked to the knot. As an application, we relate this formula with a conjecture of L. Rozansky about integrality of the 2-loop polynomial of a knot.
We refine a Le and Murakami uniqueness theorem for the Kontsevich Integral in order to specify the relationship between the two (possibly equal) main universal link invariants: the Kontsevich Integral and the perturbative expression of the Chern-Simons theory. As a corollary, we prove that the Altschuler and Freidel anomaly (that groups the Bott and Taubes anomalous terms) is a combination of diagrams with two univalent vertices; and we explicitly define the isomorphism of the space of Feynman diagrams which transforms the Kontsevich Integral into the Poirier limit of the perturbative expressi…
This paper is part expository and part presentation of calculational results. The target space of the Kontsevich integral for knots is a space of diagrams; this space has various algebraic structures which are described here. These are utilized with Le's theorem on the behaviour of the Kontsevich integral under cabling and with the Melvin-Morton Theorem, to obtain, in the Kontsevich integral for torus knots, both an explicit expression up to degree five and the general coefficients of the wheel diagrams.
We study the unwheeled rational Kontsevich integral of torus knots. We give a precise formula for these invariants up to loop degree 3 and show that they appear as colorings of simple diagrams. We show that they behave under cyclic branched coverings in a very simple way. Our proof is combinatorial: it uses the results of Wheels and Wheelings and new decorations of diagrams.
We show that the coefficients of the re-normalized link invariants of the paper "Multivariable link invariants arising from Lie superalgebras of type I" are Vassiliev invariants which give rise to a canonical family of weight systems.
We study the rational Kontsevich integral of torus knots. We construct explicitely a series of diagrams made of circles joined together in a tree-like fashion and colored by some special rational functions. We show that this series codes exactly the unwheeled rational Kontsevich integral of torus knots, and that it behaves very simply under branched coverings. Our proof is combinatorial. It uses the results of Wheels and Wheeling and various spaces of diagrams.
We define a 1-cocycle in the space of long knots that is a natural generalization of the Kontsevich integral seen as a 0-cocycle. It involves a 2-form that generalizes the Knizhnik--Zamolodchikov connection. We show that the well-known close relationship between the Kontsevich integral and Vassiliev invariants (via the algebra of chord diagrams and 1T-4T relations) is preserved between our integral and Vassiliev 1-cocycles, via a change of variable similar to the one that led Birman--Lin to discover the 4T relations. We explain how this construction is related to Cirio--Faria Martins' categori…
The Kontsevich integral of a knot is a powerful invariant which takes values in an algebra of trivalent graphs with legs. Given a Lie algebra, the Kontsevich integral determines an invariant of knots (the so-called colored Jones function) with values in the symmetric algebra of the Lie algebra. Recently A. Kricker and the author constructed a rational form of the Kontsevich integral which takes values in an algebra of trivalent graphs with beads. After replacing beads by an exponential legs, this rational form recovers the Kontsevich integral. The goal of the paper is to explain the relation b…
Kricker defined an invariant of knots in homology 3-spheres which is a rational lift of the Kontsevich integral, and proved with Garoufalidis that this invariant satisfies splitting formulas with respect to a surgery move called null-move. We define a functorial extension of the Kricker invariant and prove splitting formulas for this functorial invariant with respect to null Lagrangian-preserving surgery, a generalization of the null-move. We apply these splitting formulas to the Kricker invariant.
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, we give a short proof using the Kontsevich integral for the fact that the restriction of an invariant of degree 2n to (n+1)-component Brunnian links can be expressed as a quadratic form on the Milnor mu-bar link-homotopy invariants of length n+1. Second, we describe the structure of the Brunnian part of the degree 2n-graded quotient of the Goussarov--Vassiliev filtration for (n+1)-component links.
Using an extension of the Kontsevich integral to tangles in handlebodies similar to a construction given by Andersen, Mattes and Reshetikhin, we construct a functor $Z:\mathcal{B}\to \widehat{\mathbb{A}}$, where $\mathcal{B}$ is the category of bottom tangles in handlebodies and $\widehat{\mathbb{A}}$ is the degree-completion of the category $\mathbb{A}$ of Jacobi diagrams in handlebodies. As a symmetric monoidal linear category, $\mathbb{A}$ is the linear PROP governing "Casimir Hopf algebras", which are cocommutative Hopf algebras equipped with a primitive invariant symmetric 2-tensor. The f…
We review quantum field theory approach to the knot theory. Using holomorphic gauge we obtain the Kontsevich integral. It is explained how to calculate Vassiliev invariants and coefficients in Kontsevich integral in a combinatorial way which can be programmed on a computer. We discuss experimental results and temporal gauge considerations which lead to representation of Vassiliev invariants in terms of arrow diagrams. Explicit examples and computational results are presented.
We continue to develop an obstruction theory for embedding 2-spheres into 4-manifolds in terms of Whitney towers. The proposed intersection invariants take values in certain graded abelian groups generated by labelled trivalent trees, and with relations well known from the 3-dimensional theory of finite type invariants. Surprisingly, the same exact relations arise in 4 dimensions, for example the Jacobi (or IHX) relation comes in our context from the freedom of choosing Whitney arcs. We use the finite type theory to show that our invariants agree with the (leading term of the tree part of the)…
We introduce a matrix representation of a chord on a tangle which leads us to representing tangle chord diagrams as stacks of matrices that we call books. We show that band sum moves, Reidemeister moves as well as orientation changes are implemented on \widetilde{Z}_f - a framed link invariant constructed from the Kontsevich integral that's well-behaved under band sum moves - by matrix congruences. We prove that being given the bare framed Kontsevich integral Z_f(L) in book notation for some unknown link L, we can determine what the link L is, as well as the projection of Z_f(L) in the origina…
We introduce families of decorations of a same topological space, as well as a family of sheaves over such decorated spaces. Making those families a directed system leads to the concept of emerald over a space. For the configuration space X_N of N points in the plane, connecting points of the plane with chords is a decoration and the sheaf of log differentials over such spaces forms an emerald. We introduce a relaxed form of Cech cohomology whereby intersections are defined up to equivalence. Two disjoint open sets of X_N whose respective points are connected by a chord is one instance of inte…
Given a finite dimensional representation of a semisimple Lie algebra there are two ways of constructing link invariants: 1) quantum group invariants using the R-matrix, 2) the Kontsevich universal link invariant followed by the Lie algebra based weight system. Le and Murakami showed that these two link invariants are the same. These constructions can be generalized to some classes of Lie superalgebras. In this paper we show that constructions 1) and 2) give the same invariants for the Lie superalgebras of type A-G. We use this result to investigate the Links-Gould invariant. We also give a po…
M. Kontsevich proposed a topological construction for an invariant Z of rational homology 3-spheres using configuration space integrals. G. Kuperberg and D. Thurston proved that Z is a universal real finite type invariant for integral homology spheres in the sense of Ohtsuki, Habiro and Goussarov. We review the Kontsevich-Kuperberg-Thurston construction and we provide detailed and elementary proofs for the invariance of Z. This article is the preliminary part of a work that aims to prove splitting formulae for this powerful invariant of rational homology spheres. It contains the needed backgro…
In the setting of finite type invariants for null-homologous knots in rational homology 3-spheres with respect to null Lagrangian-preserving surgeries, there are two candidates to be universal invariants, defined respectively by Kricker and Lescop. In a previous paper, the second author defined maps between spaces of Jacobi diagrams. Injectivity for these maps would imply that Kricker and Lescop invariants are indeed universal invariants; this would prove in particular that these two invariants are equivalent. In the present paper, we investigate the injectivity status of these maps for degree…
We use the 2-loop term of the Kontsevich integral to show that there are (many) knots with trivial Alexander polynomial which don't have a Seifert surface whose genus equals the rank of the Seifert form. This is one of the first applications of the Kontsevich integral to intrinsically 3-dimensional questions in topology. Our examples contradict a lemma of Mike Freedman, and we explain what went wrong in his argument and why the mistake is irrelevant for topological knot concordance. References updated.
M. Kontsevich proposed a topological construction for an invariant Z of rational homology 3-spheres using configuration space integrals. G. Kuperberg and D. Thurston proved that Z is a universal real finite type invariant for integral homology spheres in the sense of Ohtsuki, Habiro and Goussarov. We discuss the behaviour of Z under rational homology handlebodies replacements. The explicit formulae that we present generalize a sum formula obtained by the author for the Casson-Walker invariant in 1994. They allow us to identify the degree one term of Z with the Walker invariant for rational hom…
We give an introductory survey on the universal Vassiliev invariant called the perturbative series expansion of the Chern-Simons theory of links in euclidean space, and on its relation with the Kontsevich integral. We also prove an original geometric property of the anomaly of Bott, Taubes, Altschuler, Freidel and D. Thurston, that allowed Poirier to prove that the Chern-Simons series and the Kontsevich integral coincide up to degree 6.
In a previous paper, we generalized the definition of the framed Kontsevich integral initially presented by Le and Murakami. We also defined an isotopy invariant $\widetilde{Z}_f$ that is well-behaved under band sum moves. Using this invariant we study the construction of the LMO invariant, the Wheeling Theorem, and the Aarhus integral.
A `total Chern class' invariant of knots is defined. This is a universal Vassiliev invariant which is integral `on the level of Lie algebras' but it is not expressible as an integer sum of diagrams. The construction is motivated by similarities between the Kontsevich integral and the topological Chern character.
In a previous article, we constructed an invariant Z for null-homologous knots in rational homology spheres, from equivariant intersections in configuration spaces. Here we present an equivalent definition of Z in terms of configuration space integrals, we prove that Z is multiplicative under connected sum, and we prove null Lagrangian-preserving surgery formulae for Z. Our formulae generalize similar formulae that are satisfied by the Kricker rational lift of the Kontsevich integral for null Borromean surgeries. They imply that Z is universal with respect to a natural filtration. According to…
In 1999, Rozansky conjectured the existence of a rational presentation of the Kontsevich integral of a knot. Roughly speaking, this rational presentation of the Kontsevich integral would sum formal power series into rational functions with prescribed denominators. Rozansky's conjecture was soon proven by the second author. We begin our paper by reviewing Rozansky's conjecture and the main ideas that lead to its proof. The natural question of extending this conjecture to links leads to the class of boundary links, and a proof of Rozansky's conjecture in this case. A subtle issue is the fact tha…
The elliptic associator of Enriquez can be used to define an invariant of tangles embedded in the thickened torus, which extends the Kontsevich integral. This construction by Humbert uses the formulation of categories with elliptic structures. In this work we show that an extension of the LMO functor also leads to an elliptic structure on the category of Jacobi diagrams which is used by the Kontsevich integral, and find the relation between the two structures. We use this relation to give an alternative proof for the properties of the elliptic associator of Enriquez. Those results can lead the…
We generalize the definition of the framed Kontsevich integral initially presented by T.Q.T.Le and J.Murakami. We define an isotopy invariant $\widetilde{Z}_f$ that behaves well under band sum moves.
The first part of this paper is a short review of the construction [dg-ga/9710001] of invariants of rational homology 3-spheres and knots in terms of configuration space integrals. The second part describes the relationship between the above construction and Kontsevich's proposal of removing one point from the rational homology sphere. Explicit formulae are computed. In the case of the "Theta" invariant, a comparison with Taubes's construction is briefly discussed.
Using elementary equalities between various cables of the unknot and the Hopf link, we prove the Wheels and Wheeling conjectures of [Bar-Natan, Garoufalidis, Rozansky and Thurston, arXiv:q-alg/9703025] and [Deligne, letter to Bar-Natan, January 1996, http://www.ma.huji.ac.il/~drorbn/Deligne/], which give, respectively, the exact Kontsevich integral of the unknot and a map intertwining two natural products on a space of diagrams. It turns out that the Wheeling map is given by the Kontsevich integral of a cut Hopf link (a bead on a wire), and its intertwining property is analogous to the computa…
We construct power series invariants of rational homology 3-spheres from quantum PSU(n)-invariants. The power series can be regarded as perturbative invariants corresponding to the contribution of the trivial connection in the hypothetical Witten's integral. This generalizes a result of Ohtsuki (the $n=2$ case) which led him to the definition of finite type invariants of 3-manifolds. The proof utilizes some symmetry properties of quantum invariants (of links) derived from the theory of affine Lie algebras and the theory of the Kontsevich integral.
We analyse the asymptotical growth of Vassiliev invariants on non-periodic flow lines of ergodic vector fields on domains of $\R^3$. More precisely, we show that the asymptotics of Vassiliev invariants is completely determined by the helicity of the vector field. As an application, we determine the asymptotic Alexander and Jones polynomials and give a formula for the asymptotic Kontsevich integral.