Related papers: A Burau-Alexander 2-functor on tangles

A tangle is an oriented 1-submanifold of the cylinder whose endpoints lie on the two disks in the boundary of the cylinder. Using an algebraic tool developed by Lescop, we extend the Burau representation of braids to a functor from the…

We construct a functor from the category of oriented tangles in R^3 to the category of Hermitian modules and Lagrangian relations over Z[t,t^{-1}]. This functor extends the Burau representations of the braid groups and its generalization to…

Let $R$ be an integral domain and $G$ be a subgroup of its group of units. We consider the category $\mathbf{\mathsf{Cob}}_G$ of 3-dimensional cobordisms between oriented surfaces with connected boundary, equipped with a representation of…

For a weak 2-group, we construct a bicategory of flat 2-group bundles over differentiable stacks as a localization of a functor bicategory. This description is amenable to explicit geometric constructions. For example, we show that flat…

Ribbon tangles are proper embeddings of tori and cylinders in the $4$-ball~$B^4$, "bounding" $3$-manifolds with only ribbon disks as singularities. We construct an Alexander invariant $\mathsf{A}$ of ribbon tangles equipped with a…

We present a reduced Burau-like representation for the mixed braid group on one strand representing links in lens spaces and show how to calculate the Alexander polynomial of a link directly from the mixed braid.

Motivated by its links to $\tau$-tilting theory, we introduce a generalization of cotorsion pairs in module categories. Such pairs are also linked to co-t-structures in corresponding triangulated categories, and to cotorsion pairs in…

We classify various types of graded extensions of a finite braided tensor category $\cal B$ in terms of its $2$-categorical Picard groups. In particular, we prove that braided extensions of $\cal B$ by a finite group $A$ correspond to…

We study lax functors between bicategories as a generalized concept of monads and describe generalized notions and theorems of formal monad theory for lax functors. Our first approach is to use the 2-monad whose lax algebras are lax…

It is well known that the Burau representation of the braid group can be used to recover the Alexander polynomial of the closure of a braid. We define $L^2$-Burau maps and use them to compute some $L^2$-Alexander torsions of links. As an…

The bicategorical point of view provides a natural setting for many concepts in the representation theory of monoidal categories. We show that centers of twisted bimodule categories correspond to categories of 2-dimensional natural…

Given a not necessarily semisimple modular tensor category C, we use the corresponding 3d TFT defined in [arXiv:1912.02063] to explicitly describe a modular functor as a symmetric monoidal 2-functor from a 2-category of oriented bordisms to…

From the braid-valued Burau module over the braid group we construct the Yang-Baxter matrices yielding the Alexander- and the Jones knot invariants. This generalises an observation of V. F. R. Jones.

We create a framework for odd Khovanov homology in the spirit of Bar-Natan's construction for the ordinary Khovanov homology. Namely, we express the cube of resolutions of a link diagram as a diagram in a certain 2-category of chronological…

We associate to a 2-vector bundle over an essentially finite groupoid a 2-vector space of parallel sections, or, in representation theoretic terms, of higher invariants, which can be described as homotopy fixed points. Our main result is…

We provide a new perspective on parallel 2-transport and principal 2-group bundles with 2-connection. We define parallel 2-transport as a 2-functor from the thin fundamental 2-groupoid to the 2-category of 2-group torsors. The definition of…

We establish a correspondence between modules and spans of algebras within a general monoidal 2-category $\mathfrak{C}$. Specifically, for an algebra $A$ in $\mathfrak{C}$, we construct a normalized lax 3-functor from the 2-category of…

Just as links may be algebraically described as certain morphisms in the category of tangles, compact surfaces smoothly embedded in R^4 may be described as certain 2-morphisms in the 2-category of `2-tangles in 4 dimensions'. In this…

Just as knots and links can be algebraically described as certain morphisms in the category of tangles in 3 dimensions, compact surfaces smoothly embedded in R^4 can be described as certain 2-morphisms in the 2-category of `2-tangles in 4…

Let $\mathbb{F}$ be a field and let $G\subset \mathbb{F}\setminus \{0\}$ be a multiplicative subgroup. We consider the category $\mathcal{Cob}_G$ of $3$-dimensional cobordisms equipped with a representation of their fundamental group in…