Related papers: On braided, banded surfaces and ribbon obstruction…
In this paper we study embeddings of oriented connected closed surfaces in $\mathbb S^3$. We define a complete invariant, the fundamental span, for such embeddings, generalizing the notion of the peripheral system of a knot group. From the…
We review the Reshetikhin-Turaev approach to construction of non-compact knot invariants involving R-matrices associated with infinite-dimensional representations, primarily those made from Faddeev's quantum dilogarithm. The corresponding…
We show that a variation of Milnor's $\bar\mu$-invariants, the so-called Campbell-Hausdorff invariants introduced recently by Stefan Papadima, are of finite type with respect to {\it marked singular links}. These link invariants are…
For strongly invertible knots, we define an involutive version of Khovanov homology, and from it derive a pair of integer-valued invariants $(\underline{s}, \bar{s})$, which is an equivariant version of Rasmussen's $s$-invariant. Using…
We show that the Vassiliev invariants of orders $\leq n$ of a knot K, are obstructions to finding a regular Seifert surface, S, whose complement looks "simple" (e.g. like the complement of a disc) to the lower central series of its…
In the study of ribbon knots, Lamm introduced symmetric unions inspired by earlier work of Kinoshita and Terasaka. We show an identity between the twisted Alexander polynomials of a symmetric union and its partial knot. As a corollary, we…
It was recently proved by several authors that ribbon concordances induce injective maps in knot Floer homology, Khovanov homology, and the Heegaard Floer homology of the branched double cover. We give a simple proof of a similar statement…
For every n-component ribbon link L we prove that the Jones polynomial V(L) is divisible by the polynomial V(O^n) of the trivial link. This integrality property allows us to define a generalized determinant det V(L) := [V(L)/V(O^n)]_(t=-1),…
In these lectures we explain the intimate relationship between modular invariants in conformal field theory and braided subfactors in operator algebras. A subfactor with a braiding determines a matrix $Z$ which is obtained as a coupling…
We prove the existence of a knot whose braid index the Morton-Franks-Williams inequality fails to detect but a related inequality (KR-MFW inequality), which uses new information of Khovanov-Rozansky homology, detects. We also prove, by…
The main result of this paper is a negative answer to the question: are all transversal knot types transversally simple? An explicit infinite family of examples is given of closed 3-braids that define transversal knot types that are not…
By using double branched covers, we prove that there is a 1-1 correspondence between the set of knotoids in the 2-sphere, up to orientation reversion and rotation, and knots with a strong inversion, up to conjugacy. This correspondence…
Using the theory of perverse sheaves of vanishing cycles, we define a homological invariant of knots in three-manifolds, similar to the three-manifold invariant constructed by Abouzaid and the second author. We use spaces of SL(2,C) flat…
In this paper we present a sequence of link invariants, defined from twisted Alexander polynomials, and discuss their effectiveness in distinguish knots. In particular, we recast and extend by geometric means a recent result of Silver and…
We construct a combinatorial invariant of 3-orbifolds with singular set a link that generalizes the Turaev torsion invariant of 3-manifolds. We give several gluing formulas from which we derive two consequences. The first is an…
We define an invariant of tangles and framed tangles given a finite crossed module and a pair of functions, called a Reidemeister pair, satisfying natural properties. We give several examples of Reidemeister pairs derived from racks,…
Recently, a class of solvable interaction round the face lattice models (IRF) were constructed for an arbitrary rational conformal field theory (RCFT) and an arbitrary field in it. The Boltzmann weights of the lattice models are related in…
We define the notion of a braided link cobordism in $S^3 \times [0,1]$, which generalizes Viro's closed surface braids in $\mathbb{R}^4$. We prove that any properly embedded oriented surface $W \subset S^3 \times [0,1]$ is isotopic to a…
We investigate obstruction classes of moduli spaces of sheaves on K3 surfaces. We extend previous results by Caldararu, explicitly determining the obstruction class and its order in the Brauer group. Our main theorem establishes a short…
Many well studied knots can be realized as positive braid knots where the braid word contains a positive full twist; we say that such knots are twist positive. Some important families of knots are twist positive, including torus knots,…