Related papers: The Benard-Conway invariant of two-component links
We introduce a multivariable Casson-Lin type invariant for links in $S^3$. This invariant is defined as a signed count of irreducible $\operatorname{SU}(2)$ representations of the link group with fixed meridional traces. For 2-component…
We define an integer valued invariant for two-component links in S^3 by counting projective SU(2) representations of the link group having non-trivial second Stiefel-Whitney class. We show that our invariant is, up to sign, the linking…
We extend several classical invariants of links in the 3-sphere to links in so-called quasi-cylinders. These invariants include the linking number, the Seifert form, the Alexander module, the Alexander-Conway polynomial and the…
A link L in the 3-sphere is called Brunnian if every proper sublink of L is trivial. In a previous paper, the first author proved that the restriction to Brunnian links of any Goussarov-Vassiliev finite type invariant of (n+1)-component…
Recently, Mullins calculated the Casson-Walker invariant of the 2-fold cyclic branched cover of an oriented link in S^3 in terms of its Jones polynomial and its signature, under the assumption that the 2-fold branched cover is a rational…
These introductory lectures show how to define finite type invariants of links and 3-manifolds by counting graph configurations in 3-manifolds, following ideas of Witten and Kontsevich. The linking number is the simplest finite type…
The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, we give a short proof using the Kontsevich integral for the fact that the restriction of an invariant of degree 2n to (n+1)-component Brunnian links can be expressed as a quadratic form on the…
We present a new link invariant which depends on a representation of the link group in SO(3). The computer calculations indicate that an abelian version of this invariant is expressed in terms of the Alexander polynomial of the link. On the…
In this paper we define and present a simple combinatorial formula for a 3-variable Laurent polynomial invariant of conjugacy classes in Artin braid group $B_m$. We show that this Laurent polynomial satisfies the Conway skein relation and…
We introduce the $SU(N)$ Casson-Lin invariants for links $L$ in $S^3$ with more than one component. Writing $L = \ell_1 \cup \cdots \cup \ell_n$, we require as input an $n$-tuple $(a_1,\ldots, a_n) \in {\mathbb Z}^n$ of labels, where $a_j$…
We consider an algebra of (classical or virtual) tangles over an ordered circuit operad and introduce Conway-type invariants of tangles which respect this algebraic structure. The resulting invariants contain both the coefficients of the…
In this paper we construct a multivariable link invariant arising from the quantum group associated to the special linear Lie superalgebra sl(2|1). The usual quantum group invariant of links associated to (generic) representations of…
An n-dimensional \mu-component boundary link is a codimension 2 embedding of spheres L=\bigsqcup_{\mu}S^n \subset S^{n+2} such that there exist \mu disjoint oriented embedded (n+1)-manifolds which span the components of L. An F_\mu-link is…
We introduce new topological quantum invariants of compact oriented 3-manifolds with boundary where the boundary is a disjoint union of two identical surfaces. The invariants are constructed via surgery on manifolds of the form $F \times I$…
We define a new invariant of links in the $3$-sphere and call it the parabolic Dijkgraaf-Witten (DW) invariant. This invariant is a generalization of the reduced DW invariant derived by Karuo. In this paper, we compute the invariant of…
This paper is expository and is accessible to students. We define simple invariants of knots or links (linking number, Arf-Casson invariants and Alexander-Conway polynomials) motivated by interesting results whose statements are accessible…
Given a link L in the 3-sphere, we ask whether the components of L bound disjoint, nullhomologous disks properly embedded in a simply-connected positive-definite smooth 4-manifold; the knot case has been studied extensively in work of…
We show that the reduced $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})$-twisted Burau representation can be obtained from the quantum group $\mathcal{U}_q(\mathfrak{sl}_2)$ for $q = i$ a fourth root of unity and that representations of…
We note that the Conway potential function $\Omega_L$ of an $m$-component link $L$, $m>1$, can be expressed as $\Omega_L(x_1,\dots,x_m)=\Theta_L(\nabla_L(x_1-x_1^{-1},\dots,x_m-x_m^{-1}))$ for a unique $\nabla_L\in\mathbb Z[z_1,\dots,z_m]$,…
A path integral on a link complement of a three-sphere fixes a vector (the "link state") in Chern-Simons theory. The link state can be written in a certain basis with the colored link invariants as its coefficients. We use symmetric webs to…