Insensitivity of Khovanov homology under rim surgery
Geometric Topology
2026-07-28 v1 Quantum Algebra
Abstract
We show that rim surgery on a smooth, oriented, properly embedded surface in does not change the map on Khovanov homology induced by the surface, answering a question raised by Hayden and Sundber. More generally, the same insensitivity holds for a class of local surgery operations that we call local annulus replacements. Combined with the work of Hayden--Sundberg, this result yields exotic pairs of surfaces in that cannot be related by any sequence of local annulus replacements. We give two proofs, both making essential use of Khovanov skein lasagna modules.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.25302,
title = {Insensitivity of Khovanov homology under rim surgery},
author = {Qiuyu Ren and Fang-Rong Zhan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.25302},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
8 pages, 2 figures