arXiv research

Lectures on topological field theories and differential cohomology.

We extend the topological field theory (``itsy bitsy topological field theory"') of our previous work from mod-2 to twisted coefficients. This topological field theory is derived from sutured Floer homology but described purely in terms of surfaces with signed points on their boundary (occupied surfaces) and curves on …

The paper extends topological field theory to noncompact surfaces using symmetric powers.

Link homology theories connect to 4-manifold invariants and TQFTs.

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 2-dimensional topological field theories (over a point) are described by finite-dim…

It is well-known that classical two-dimensional topological field theories are in one-to-one correspondence with commutative Frobenius algebras. An important extension of classical two-dimensional topological field theories is provided by open-closed two-dimensional topological field theories. In this paper we extend o…

We give a construction of the abelian Chern-Simons gauge theory from the point of view of a 2+1 dimensional topological quantum field theory. The definition of the quantum theory relies on geometric quantization ideas which have been previously explored in connection to the nonabelian Chern-Simons theory [JW,ADW]. We f…

Classifies extended Abelian Chern-Simons theories using quadratic modules.

ETQFTs created from non-semisimple modular categories.

CMRFs extend PGMs for topological data, capturing both conditional and marginal dependencies.

Mazur, Kapranov, Reznikov, and others developed ``Arithmetic Topology,'' a theory describing some surprising analogies between 3-dimensional topology and number theory, which can be summarized by saying that knots are like prime numbers. We extend their work by proving several formulas concerning branched coverings of …

Canonical quantization of abelian BF-type topological field theory coupled to extended sources on generic d-dimensional manifolds and with curved line bundles is studied. Sheaf cohomology is used to construct the appropriate topological extension of the action and the topological flux quantization conditions, in terms …

Semisimple 4D field theories can't distinguish smooth 4-manifolds.

Recent work extends Turaev's modular categories to non-semisimple settings.

We construct a combinatorial invariant of Legendrian knots in standard contact three-space. This invariant, which encodes rational relative Symplectic Field Theory and extends contact homology, counts holomorphic disks with an arbitrary number of positive punctures. The construction uses ideas from string topology.

The paper explores how the unit inclusion affects topological quantum field theories in non-semisimple categories.

Extends calculus to topological manifolds using generalized functions.

Open 2D TFTs extend to closed theories with circle value as Hochschild homology.

Paper categorifies a polynomial related to ribbon graphs.

We formulate differential cohomology and Chern-Weil theory -- the theory of connections on fiber bundles and of gauge fields -- abstractly in the context of a certain class of higher toposes that we call "cohesive". Cocycles in this differential cohomology classify higher principal bundles equipped with cohesive struct…

New framework for quantum invariants of 3-manifolds using homology.

We use techniques from functorial quantum field theory to provide a geometric description of the parity anomaly in fermionic systems coupled to background gauge and gravitational fields on odd-dimensional spacetimes. We give an explicit construction of a geometric cobordism bicategory which incorporates general backgro…

We derive the general state sum construction for 2D topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) with source defects on oriented curves, extending the state-sum construction from special symmetric Frobenius algebra for 2-D TQFTs without defects (cf. Lauda \& Pfeiffer \cite{LP}). From the extended Pachner moves (Crane \& …

By means of an analogy with Classical Mechanics and Geometrical Optics, we are able to reduce Lagrangians to a kinetic term only. This form enables us to examine the extended solution set of field theories by finding the geodesics of this kinetic term's metric. This new geometrical standpoint sheds light on some founda…

The paper proves UV finiteness and vanishing anomalies for hybrid topological-holomorphic field theories.

Paper connects 3D gravity averages to 2D CFT correlators.

Overview of 3D TQFTs and 3-manifold invariants.

Extends string-net theory to 3D TQFT via surface graphs and surgery.

Study 3d N=1 vacua from M-theory compactification on Spin(7) space.

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 the associated quantum amplitudes, specifically in 2+1 and 3+1 spacetime dimension…

The paper quantizes hybrid topological-holomorphic field theories on $\mathbb{R}^m imes \mathbb{C}^n$.

We develop the general theory for the construction of Extended Topological Quantum Field Theories (ETQFTs) associated with the Costantino-Geer-Patureau quantum invariants of closed 3-manifolds. In order to do so, we introduce relative modular categories, a class of ribbon categories which are modeled on representations…

A group-category is an additively semisimple category with a monoidal product structure in which the simple objects are invertible. For example in the category of representations of a group, 1-dimensional representations are the invertible simple objects. This paper gives a detailed exploration of "topological quantum …

Observable structures of a topological field theory of AKSZ type are analyzed. From a double (or multiple) complex structure of observable algebras, new topological invariants are constructed. Especially, Donaldson polynomial invariants and their generalizations are constructed from a topological field theory of AKSZ t…

There is an interpretation of open string field theory in algebraic topology. An interpretation of closed string field theory can be deduced from this open string theory to obtain as well the interpretation of open and closed string field theory combined.

Topological conformal field theories are defined using only basic results from the theory of quasiconformal mappings.

We introduce and study the Wilson loops in a general 3D topological field theories (TFTs), and show that the expectation value of Wilson loops also gives knot invariants as in Chern-Simons theory. We study the TFTs within the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) and Alexandrov-Kontsevich-Schwarz-Zaboronsky (AKSZ) framework, and the…

New approach connects 3D Chern-Simons theory to spectral networks.

Chas and Sullivan have defined an intersection-type product on the homology of the free loop space LM of an oriented manifold M. In this paper we show how to extend this construction to a topological conformal field theory of degree d. In particular, we get operations on the homology of LM which are parameterized by th…

This paper proposes an axiomatic for Cyclic Foam Topological Field theories. That is Topological Field theories, corresponding to String theories, where particles are arbitrary graphs. World surfaces in this case are two-manifolds with one-dimensional singularities. We proved that Cyclic Foam Topological Field theories…

In his recent investigation of a super Teichmüller space, Sachse (2007), based on work of Molotkov (1984), has proposed a theory of Banach supermanifolds using the `functor of points' approach of Bernstein and Schwarz. We prove that the the category of Berezin-Kostant-Leites supermanifolds is equivalent to the category…

We expand Topological Field Theory on some special CW-complexes (brane complexes). This Brane Topological Field Theory one-to-one corresponds to infinite dimensional Frobenius Algebras, graduated by CW-complexes of lesser dimension. We define general and regular Hurwitz numbers of brane complexes and prove that they ge…

We show that once-extended anomalous 3-dimensional topological quantum field theories valued in the 2-category of k-linear categories are in canonical bijection with modular tensor categories equipped with a square root of the global dimension in each factor.

Paper proves families of singularities can be topologically trivialized.

Survey of Floer theories and their connections.

We explore 4d Yang-Mills gauge theories (YM) living as boundary conditions of 5d gapped short/long-range entangled (SRE/LRE) topological states. Specifically, we explore 4d time-reversal symmetric pure YM of an SU(2) gauge group with a second-Chern-class topological term at $θ=π$ (SU(2)$_{θ=π}$ YM), by turning on backg…

The article applies Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory to establish lower bounds on critical points using sequential and parametrized topological complexity.

We construct a simple finite-dimensional topological quantum field theory for compact 3-manifolds with triangulated boundary.