English

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 B4B^4 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 B4B^4 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