arXiv research

We review a construction of a new class of algebraic curves, called super-A-polynomials, and their quantum generalizations. The super-A-polynomial is a two-parameter deformation of the A-polynomial known from knot theory or Chern-Simons theory with SL(2,C) gauge group. The two parameters of the super-A-polynomial encod…

Formula found for a specific knot's A-polynomial.

Computes A-polynomials of knots from Whitehead sister link fillings.

We say that a given knot $J\subset S^3$ is detected by its knot Floer homology and $A$-polynomial if whenever a knot $K\subset S^3$ has the same knot Floer homology and the same $A$-polynomial as $J$, then $K=J$. In this paper we show that every torus knot $T(p,q)$ is detected by its knot Floer homology and $A$-polynom…

Dunfield-Garoufalidis and Boyer-Zhang proved that the A-polynomial of a nontrivial knot in $S^{3}$ is nontrivial. In this paper, we use holonomy perturbations to prove the non-triviality of the A-polynomial for a nontrivial, null-homotopic knot in an irreducible 3-manifold. Also, we give a strong constraint on the A-po…

The paper connects knot volume to $A$-polynomial structure.

The A-polynomial encodes hyperbolic geometric information on knots and related manifolds. Historically, it has been difficult to compute, and particularly difficult to determine A-polynomials of infinite families of knots. Here, we compute A-polynomials by starting with a triangulation of a manifold, then using symplec…

Kashaev limits of quantum $A$-polynomials reveal classical action vanishing and hyperbolic volume deformation.

Simplified A-polynomial calculation for twisted knots.

We introduce and compute a 2-parameter family deformation of the A-polynomial that encodes the color dependence of the superpolynomial and that, in suitable limits, reduces to various deformations of the A-polynomial studied in the literature. These special limits include the t-deformation which leads to the "refined A…

These are the notes of the three lectures I delivered at the mini-workshop "Knot Theory and Number Theory around the A-Polynomial" at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) in Lisbon in January 2014. The goal of the lectures was to familiarize, both the author and, the audience with the A-polynomials and the connection b…

We extend Hoste-Shanahan's calculations for the A-polynomial of twist knots, to give an explicit formula.

The paper shows the computation of the noncommutative generalization of the A-polynomial of the trefoil knot. The classical A-polynomial was introduced by Cooper, Culler, Gillet, Long and Shalen, and was generalized to the context of Kauffman bracket skein modules by the author in joint work with Frohman and Lofaro. A …

The A-polynomial of a knot in S^3 defines a complex plane curve associated to the set of representations of the fundamental group of the knot exterior into SL(2,C). Here, we show that a non-trivial knot in S^3 has a non-trivial A-polynomial. We deduce this from the gauge-theoretic work of Kronheimer and Mrowka on SU_2-…

This note gives a proof that the $A$-polynomial of any nontrivial knot in $S^3$ has nontrivial $M$-degree.

The purpose of the paper is two-fold: to introduce a multivariable creative telescoping method, and to apply it in a problem of Quantum Topology: namely the computation of the non-commutative $A$-polynomial of twist knots. Our multivariable creative telescoping method allows us to compute linear recursions for sums of …

The AJ Conjecture relates a quantum invariant, a minimal order recursion for the colored Jones polynomial of a knot (known as the $\hat{A}$ polynomial), with a classical invariant, namely the defining polynomial $A$ of the $\psl$ character variety of a knot. More precisely, the AJ Conjecture asserts that the set of irr…

We study relationships between the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial of a knot. We establish for a large class of 2-bridge knots the AJ conjecture (of Garoufalidis) that relates the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial. Along the way we also calculate the Kauffman bracket skein module of all 2-brid…

We study q-holonomic sequences that arise as the colored Jones polynomial of knots in 3-space. The minimal-order recurrence for such a sequence is called the (non-commutative) A-polynomial of a knot. Using the "method of guessing", we obtain this polynomial explicitly for the K_p = (-2, 3, 3+2p) pretzel knots for p = -…

Paper connects AJ conjecture and colored Jones polynomial potential function.

Proves regularity of isomorphisms between hyperbolic 3-manifolds.

Paper studies invariants of knots using logarithmic Gauss maps and character varieties.

In this paper, we extend the definition of the $SL_2(\Bbb C)$ Casson invariant to arbitrary knots $K$ in integral homology 3-spheres and relate it to the $m$-degree of the $\widehat{A}$-polynomial of $K$. We prove a product formula for the $\widehat{A}$-polynomial of the connected sum $K_1 \# K_2$ of two knots in $S^3$…

The paper extends BPS invariants for framed knots and links.

We compute the A-polynomial 2-tuple of twisted Whitehead links. As applications, we determine canonical components of twisted Whitehead links and give a formula for the volume of twisted Whitehead link cone-manifolds.

Detects torus knots using SL(2,C) representations and instanton Floer homology.

An explicit formula for the $A$-polynomial of the knot with Conway's notation $C(2n,3)$ is obtained from the explicit Riley-Mednykh polynomial of it.

We prove the existence of a polynomial invariant that satisfies the HOMFLY skein relation for links in a lens space. In the process we also develop a skein theory of toroidal grid diagrams in a lens space.

We show that for a twist knot, the A-polynomial can be obtained from recurrences for the summand in Masbaum's formula of the colored Jones polynomial. Our result supports the AJ conjecture due to S.Garoufalidis.

We show that the A-polynomial $A_n$ of the 1-parameter family of pretzel knots $K_n=(-2,3,3+2n)$ satisfies a linear recursion relation of order 4 with explicit constant coefficients and initial conditions. Our proof combines results of Tamura-Yokota and the second author. As a corollary, we show that the $A$-polynomial…

We show that there exist infinitely many examples of pairs of knots, K_1 and K_2, that have no epimorphism $π_1(S^3\setminus K_1) \to π_1(S^3\setminus K_2)$ preserving peripheral structure although their A-polynomials have the factorization $A_{K_2}(L,M) \mid A_{K_1}(L,M)$. Our construction accounts for most of the kno…

Twisted graph diagrams are virtual graph diagrams with bars on edges. A bijection between abstract graph diagrams and twisted graph diagrams is constructed. Then a polynomial invariant of Yamada-type is developed which provides a lower bound for the virtual crossing number of virtual graph diagrams.

It is shown that for knots with a sufficiently regular character variety the Dubois' torsion detects the A-polynomial of the knot. A global formula for the integral of the Dubois torsion is given. The formula looks like the heat kernel regularization of the formula for the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev invariant of the dou…

We conjecture formulae of the colored superpolynomials for a class of twist knots $K_p$ where p denotes the number of full twists. The validity of the formulae is checked by applying differentials and taking special limits. Using the formulae, we compute both the classical and quantum super-A-polynomial for the twist k…

We develop an invariant of knots that depends on a complex parameter t, describing a left ideal in the noncommutative torus. When the parameter is set equal to -1 we recover the A-polynomial of the knot. We relate the invariant to the colored Jones polynomials of the knot.

In this paper, we define some polynomial invariants for virtual knots and links. In the first part we use Manturov's parity axioms to obtain a new polynomial invariant of virtual knots. This invariant can be regarded as a generalization of the odd writhe polynomial defined by the first author. The relation between this…

We use a 1-parameter version of gauge theory to investigate the topology of the diffeomorphism group of 4-manifolds. A polynomial invariant, analogous to the Donaldson polynomial, is defined, and is used to show that the diffeomorphism group of certain simply-connected 4-manifolds has infinitely generated π_0.

The paper extends a method to compute A-polynomials of 2-bridge knots.

We define Ptolemy coordinates for representations that are not necessarily boundary-unipotent. This gives rise to a new algorithm for computing the SL(2,C) A-polynomial, and more generally the SL(n,C) A-varieties. We also give a formula for the Dehn invariant of an SL(n,C)-representation.

For an arbitrary positive integer n, we construct infinitely many one-cusped hyperbolic 3-manifolds where each manifold's A-polynomial detects every n-th root of unity. This answers a question of Cooper, Culler, Gillet, Long, and Shalen as to which roots of unity arise in this manner.

In an earlier paper the first author defined a non-commutative A-polynomial for knots in 3-space, using the colored Jones function. The idea is that the colored Jones function of a knot satisfies a non-trivial linear q-difference equation. Said differently, the colored Jones function of a knot is annihilated by a non-z…

We describe a correspondence between augmentations and certain representations of the knot group. The correspondence makes the 2-variable augmentation polynomial into a generalization of the classical $A$-polynomial. It also associates to an augmentation a rank, which is bounded by the bridge number and shares its beha…

The paper contains the computation of the noncommutative A-ideal of the figure-eight knot, a noncommutative generalization of the A-polynomial. We show that if a knot has the same noncommutative A-ideal as the figure-eight knot, then all colored Kauffman brackets are the same as those of the figure-eight knot.

We study a class of 2-variable polynomials called exact polynomials which contains $A$-polynomials of knot complements. The Mahler measure of these polynomials can be computed in terms of a volume function defined on the vanishing set of the polynomial. We prove that the local extrema of the volume function are on the …

Polynomials with distinct critical values have braid monodromy groups equal to braid groups.

The aim of this paper is to introduce a polynomial invariant $f_K(t)$ for virtual knots. We show that $f_K(t)$ can be used to distinguish some virtual knot from its inverse and mirror image. The behavior of $f_K(t)$ under connected sum is also given. Finally we discuss which kind of polynomial can be realized as $f_K(t…

We study three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory with complex gauge group SL(2,C), which has many interesting connections with three-dimensional quantum gravity and geometry of hyperbolic 3-manifolds. We show that, in the presence of a single knotted Wilson loop in an infinite-dimensional representation of the gauge grou…

It is proved that each of compact linear groups of one special type admits a polynomial factorization map onto a real vector space. More exactly, the group is supposed to be non-commutative one-dimensional and to have two connected components, and its representation should be the direct sum of three irreducible two-dim…