Related papers: BF Theories and 2-knots
A kind of topological field theory is proposed as a candidate to describe the global structure of the 2-form Einstein gravity with or without a cosmological constant. Indeed in the former case, we show that a quantum state in the candidate…
Yang-Baxter operators (YBOs) have been employed to construct quantum knot invariants. More recently, cohomology theories for YBOs have been independently developed, drawing inspiration from analogous theories for quandles and other discrete…
On basis of generalized 6j-symbols we give a formulation of topological quantum field theories for 3-manifolds including observables in the form of coloured graphs. It is shown that the 6j-symbols associated with deformations of the…
We propose that at low energy four dimensional bosonic strings may form bound states where they become bundled together much like the filaments in a cable. We inspect the properties of these bundles in terms of their extrinsic geometry.…
Let M be a closed oriented 3-manifold with first Betti number one. Its equivariant linking pairing may be seen as a two-dimensional cohomology class in an appropriate infinite cyclic covering of the space of ordered pairs of distinct points…
A hypothetical picture of massive excitations of 4-dimensional Yang-Mills quantum field theory as closed knotted fat strings is described.
Recent work suggests that topological features of certain quantum gravity theories can be interpreted as particles, matching the known fermions and bosons of the first generation in the Standard Model. This is achieved by identifying…
Extending tensor models at the field theoretical level, tensor field theories are nonlocal quantum field theories with Feynman graphs identified with simplicial complexes. They become relevant for addressing quantum topology and geometry in…
Three different methods to quantize the spherically symmetric sector of electromagnetism are presented: First, it is shown that this sector is equivalent to Abelian BF-theory in four spacetime dimensions with suitable boundary conditions.…
We explain how it is possible to study $\mathrm{U}\!\left(1\right)$ BF theory over a connected closed oriented smooth $3$-manifold in the formalism of path integral thanks to Deligne-Beilinson cohomology. We show how we can…
These notes review a description of quantum mechanics in terms of the topology of spaces, basing on the axioms of Topological Quantum Field Theory and path integral formalism. In this description quantum states and operators are encoded by…
A planar boundary introduced \`a la Symanzik in the 5D topological BF theory, with the only requirement of locality and power counting, allows to uniquely determine a gauge invariant, non topological 4D Lagrangian. The boundary condition on…
We investigate the Reshetikhin--Turaev invariants associated to SU(2) for the 3-manifolds M obtained by doing any rational surgery along the figure 8 knot. In particular, we express these invariants in terms of certain complex double…
In this paper we give a characterization of 2-dimensional topological field theories over a space $X$ as Frobenius bundles with connections over $LX$, the free loop space of $X$. This is a generalization of the folk theorem stating that…
Topological gauge theories in four dimensions which admit surface operators provide a natural framework for realizing homological knot invariants. Every such theory leads to an action of the braid group on branes on the corresponding moduli…
The first order formalism for 3D Yang-Mills theory is considered and two different formulations are introduced, in which the gauge theory appears to be a deformation of the topological BF theory. We perform the quantization and the…
It was recently argued that quantum field theories possess one-form and higher-form symmetries, labelled `generalized global symmetries.' In this paper, we describe how those higher-form symmetries can be understood mathematically as…
We introduce and study knots and links in 2-dimensional complexes. In particular, we define linking numbers for oriented two-component links in 2-complexes and a Kauffman-type bracket polynomial for links in 2-complexes. We also discuss…
To formulate the universal constraints of quantum statistics data of generic long-range entangled quantum systems, we introduce the geometric-topology surgery theory on spacetime manifolds where quantum systems reside, cutting and gluing…
Finite-order invariants of knots in arbitrary 3-manifolds (including non-orientable ones) are constructed and studied by methods of the topology of discriminant sets. Obstructions to the integrability of admissible weight systems to…