arXiv research

Combinatorial method computes Legendrian knot invariant.

Combines combinatorial method to extend Milnor invariants to welded links.

In this short note, we observe that the Heegaard Floer contact invariant is combinatorial by applying the algorithm of Sarkar--Wang to the description of the contact invariant due to Honda--Kazez--Matic. We include an example of this combinatorial calculation.

Sarkar and Wang have given a combinatorial algorithm for computing Heegaard Floer homology and Plamenevskaya has improved their method to compute Ozsvath-Szabo invariant. In this paper, applying the combinatorial method to stabilizations of an open book, we prove basic properties of Ozsvath-Szabo invariant.

New combinatorial type helps distinguish plane curve topologies.

We describe a new method for combinatorially computing the transverse invariant in knot Floer homology. Previous work of the authors and Stone used braid diagrams to combinatorially compute knot Floer homology of braid closures. However, that approach was unable to explicitly identify the invariant of transverse links …

Extends knot concordance invariant to balanced spatial graphs using grid homology.

Study co-Higgs sheaves on toric varieties, finding explicit examples.

Using bordered Floer theory, we give a combinatorial construction and proof of invariance for the hat version of Heegaard Floer homology. As a part of the proof, we also establish combinatorially the invariance of the linear-categorical representation of the strongly-based mapping class groupoid given by the same theor…

We prove that the "minus" version of Lipshitz's double-point enhanced grid homology is a knot invariant through purely combinatorial means.

Using the combinatorial approach to knot Floer homology, we define an invariant for Legendrian knots in the three-sphere, which takes values in link Floer homology. This invariant can be used to also construct an invariant of transverse knots.

In this paper we provide a new Bennequin-type inequality for the Rasmussen- Beliakova-Wehrli invariant, featuring the numerical transverse braid invariants (the c-invariants) introduced by the author. From the Bennequin type-inequality, and a combinatorial bound on the value of the c-invariants, we deduce a new computa…

We consider a stabilized version of hat Heegaard Floer homology of a 3-manifold Y (i.e. the U=0 variant of Heegaard Floer homology for closed 3-manifolds). We give a combinatorial algorithm for constructing this invariant, starting from a Heegaard decomposition for Y, and give a combinatorial proof of its invariance pr…

It is shown that if a real value PL-invariant of closed combinatorial manifolds admits a local formula that depends only on the f-vector of the link of each vertex, then the invariant must be a constant times the Euler characteristic.

The present paper produces examples of Gauss diagram formulae for virtual knot invariants which have no analogue in the classical knot case. These combinatorial formulae contain additional information about how a subdiagram is embedded in a virtual knot diagram. The additional information comes from the second author's…

Formula derived for a magnetic line invariant.

If a real value invariant of compact combinatorial manifolds (with or without boundary) depends only on the number of simplices in each dimension on the manifold, then the invariant is completely determined by Euler characteristics of the manifold and its boundary. So essentially, Euler characteristic is the unique inv…

Following the general strategy proposed by G.Rybnikov, we present a proof of his well-known result, that is, the existence of two arrangements of lines having the same combinatorial type, but non-isomorphic fundamental groups. To do so, the Alexander Invariant and certain invariants of combinatorial line arrangements a…

We define combinatorial invariants of Legendrian and transverse links in universally tight lens spaces using grid diagrams, generalizing [OST08] and prove that they are equivalent to the invariants defined in [BVVV13] and [LOSS09]. We use these combinatorial invariants to characterize index one grid diagrams for knots …

The invariant $Θ$ is an invariant of rational homology 3-spheres $M$ equipped with a combing $X$ over the complement of a point. It is related to the Casson-Walker invariant $λ$ by the formula $Θ(M,X)=6λ(M)+p_1(X)/4$, where $p_1$ is an invariant of combings that is simply related to a Gompf invariant. In [arXiv:1209.32…

Grid homology invariant proved for lens space links.

We define combinatorial analogues of stable and unstable minimal surfaces in the setting of weighted pseudomanifolds. We prove that, under mild conditions, such combinatorial minimal surfaces always exist. We use a technique, adapted from work of Johnson and Thompson, called thin position. Thin position is defined usin…

In this note we present a combinatorial link invariant that underlies some recent stable homotopy refinements of Khovanov homology of links. The invariant takes the form of a functor between two combinatorial 2-categories, modulo a notion of stable equivalence. We also develop some general properties of such functors.

Combinatorial proof of grid homology properties.

Everyone knows that the Euler characteristic of a combinatorial manifold is given by the alternating sum of its numbers of simplices. It is shown that there are other linear combinations of the numbers of simplices which are combinatorial invariants, but that all such invariants are multiples of the Euler characteristi…

Deep learning uncovers patterns between knot types.

It follows implicitly from recent work in Heegaard Floer theory that lens spaces are homology cobordant exactly when they are oriented homeomorphic. We provide a new combinatorial proof using the Heegaard Floer d-invariants, which themselves may be defined combinatorially for lens spaces.

The paper computes special values of combinatorial zeta functions to reveal topological properties of manifolds.

We give a combinatorial treatment of transverse homology, a new invariant of transverse knots that is an extension of knot contact homology. The theory comes in several flavors, including one that is an invariant of topological knots and produces a three-variable knot polynomial related to the A-polynomial. We provide …

Link Floer homology is an invariant for links defined using a suitable version of Lagrangian Floer homology. In an earlier paper, this invariant was given a combinatorial description with mod 2 coefficients. In the present paper, we give a self-contained presentation of the basic properties of link Floer homology, incl…

Using a Heegaard diagram for the pullback of a knot $K \subset S^3$ in its cyclic branched cover $Σ_m(K)$ obtained from a grid diagram for $K$, we give a combinatorial proof for the invariance of the associated combinatorial knot Floer homology over $\mathbb{Z}$.

A Gauss diagram is a simple, combinatorial way to present a link. It is known that any Vassiliev invariant may be obtained from a Gauss diagram formula that involves counting subdiagrams of certain combinatorial types. In this paper we present simple formulas for an infinite family of invariants in terms of counting su…

The paper describes and analyzes a knot concordance invariant ε using grid homology.

Sarkar and Wang proved that the hat version of Heegaard Floer homology group of a closed oriented 3-manifold is combinatorial starting from an arbitrary nice Heegaard diagram and in fact every closed oriented 3-manifold admits such a Heegaard diagram. Plamenevskaya showed that the contact Ozsvath-Szabo invariant is com…

Combinatorial approach to compute satellite knot invariants using graph theory.

In 2003, Ozsváth and Szabó defined the concordance invariant $τ$ for knots in oriented 3-manifolds as part of the Heegaard Floer homology package. In 2011, Sarkar gave a combinatorial definition of $τ$ for knots in $S^3$ and a combinatorial proof that $τ$ gives a lower bound for the slice genus of a knot. Recently, Har…

Constructs subvarieties in translation surface strata using combinatorial input.

We provide a translation between Chekanov's combinatorial theory for invariants of Legendrian knots in the standard contact R^3 and a relative version of Eliashberg and Hofer's Contact Homology. We use this translation to transport the idea of ``coherent orientations'' from the Contact Homology world to Chekanov's comb…

Goussarov, Polyak, and Viro proved that finite type invariants of knots are ``finitely multi-local'', meaning that on a knot diagram, sums of quantities, defined by local information, determine the value of the knot invariant. The result implies the existence of Gauss diagram combinatorial formulas for finite type inva…

New formula for 3-manifold invariants using combinatorial methods.

Paper analyzes FTPL's effectiveness in combinatorial semi-bandit problems.

We give combinatorial descriptions of the Heegaard Floer homology groups for arbitrary three-manifolds (with coefficients in Z/2). The descriptions are based on presenting the three-manifold as an integer surgery on a link in the three-sphere, and then using a grid diagram for the link. We also give combinatorial descr…

Link Floer homology is an invariant for links which has recently been described entirely in a combinatorial way. Originally constructed with mod 2 coefficients, it was generalized to integer coefficients thanks to a sign refinement. In this paper, thanks to the spin extension of the permutation group we give an alterna…

New knot invariant derived from Vassiliev invariant of order 3.

This is the first installment of a book on combinatorial and geometric group theory from the topological point of view. This is a classical subject. The installment contains Chapters 1, 3 and 4, and there are nine chapters in total: 1. Combinatorial Complexes 2. Topological Invariants 3. Coverings 4. Galois Theory 5. G…

Using a Heegaard diagram for the pullback of a knot $K \subset S^3$ in its cyclic double branched cover $Σ_2(K)$, we give a combinatorial proof for the invariance of knot Floer homology over $\mathbb{Z}$.

A Gauss diagram is a simple, combinatorial way to present a knot. It is known that any Vassiliev invariant may be obtained from a Gauss diagram formula that involves counting (with signs and multiplicities) subdiagrams of certain combinatorial types. These formulas generalize the calculation of a linking number by coun…

Let E be a circle bundle over a Riemann surface that supports a contact structure transverse to the fibers. This paper presents a combinatorial definition of a differential graded algebra (DGA) that is an invariant of Legendrian knots in E. The invariant generalizes Chekanov's combinatorial DGA invariant of Legendrian …