The Universal Perturbative Quantum 3-manifold Invariant, Rozansky-Witten Invariants, and the Generalized Casson Invariant

Let Z^{LMO} be the 3-manifold invariant of [LMO]. It is shown that Z^{LMO}(M)=1, if the first Betti number of M, b_{1}(M), is greater than 3. If b_{1}(M)=3, then Z^{LMO}(M) is completely determined by the cohomology ring of M. A relation of Z^{LMO} with the Rozansky-Witten invariants Z_{X}^{RW}[M] is established at a physical level of rigour. We show that Z_{X}^{RW}[M] satisfies appropriate connected sum properties suggesting that the generalized Casson invariant ought to be computable from the LMO invariant.