arXiv research

The Jones polynomial can be expressed in terms of spanning trees of the graph obtained by checkerboard coloring a knot diagram. We show there exists a complex generated by these spanning trees whose homology is the reduced Khovanov homology. The spanning trees provide a filtration on the reduced Khovanov complex and a …

New spanning tree model connects knot homology, s-invariant, and exotic discs.

We use a spanning tree model to prove a result of E. S. Lee on the support of Khovanov homology of alternating knots.

We iterate Manolescu's unoriented skein exact triangle in knot Floer homology with coefficients in the field of rational functions over $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. The result is a spectral sequence which converges to a stabilized version of delta-graded knot Floer homology. The $(E_2,d_2)$ page of this spectral sequence …

We introduce several geometric notions, including the width of a homology class, to the theory of persistent homology. These ideas provide geometric interpretations of persistence diagrams. Indeed, we give quantitative and geometric descriptions of the "life span" or "persistence" of a homology class. As a case study, …

Khovanov and chromatic homologies show similar patterns, improving chromatic bounds and computing Jones polynomial.

We use the spanning tree model for Khovanov homology to study Legendrian links. This leads to an alternative proof for Ng's Khovanov bound for the Thurston-Bennequin number and to both a necessary and a sufficient condition for this bound to be sharp.

Plateau's problem is to find a surface with minimal area spanning a given boundary. In 1960, Reifenberg and Adams developed a definition for "span" using Čech homology, and variants of this definition have been used ever sense. However, limitations of Čech homology resulted in the lack of a natural definition for a bou…

Oriented ribbon graphs (dessins d'enfant) are graphs embedded in oriented surfaces. A quasi-tree of a ribbon graph is a spanning subgraph with one face, which is described by an ordered chord diagram. We show that for any link diagram $L$, there is an associated ribbon graph whose quasi-trees correspond bijectively to …

It is conjectured that the Khovanov homology of a knot is invariant under mutation. In this paper, we review the spanning tree complex for Khovanov homology, and reformulate this conjecture using a matroid obtained from the Tait graph (checkerboard graph) G of a knot diagram K. The spanning trees of G provide a filtrat…

New invariants for virtual knots via spanning surfaces.

The paper explores subrepresentations in graph homology.

We introduce Khovanov homology for ribbon graphs and show that the Khovanov homology of a certain ribbon graph embedded on the Turaev surface of a link is isomorphic to the Khovanov homology of the link (after a grading shift). We also present a spanning quasi-tree model for the Khovanov homology of a ribbon graph.

Study $Θ$-invariants for spherical 3-manifolds via $\mathbb{Z}π$-homology equivalences.

We lift the characteristic-2 totally twisted Khovanov homology of Roberts and Jaeger to a theory with integer coefficients. The result is a complex computing reduced odd Khovanov homology for knots. This complex is equivalent to a spanning-tree complex whose differential is explicit modulo a sign ambiguity coming from …

Study invariants of null-homologous knots in thickened surfaces.

We define a variation of Khovanov homology with an explicit description in terms of the spanning trees of a link projection. We prove that this new theory is a link invariant and describe some of its properties. Finally, we provide some the results of some computer computations of the invariant.

Study shows how volume growth affects homological torsion in 3-manifolds.

We describe a bordered version of totally twisted Khovanov homology. We first twist Roberts's type $D$ structure by adding a "vertical" type $D$ structure which generalizes the vertical map in twisted tangle homology. One of the distinct advantages of our type $D$ structure is that it is homotopy equivalent to a type $…

New examples show finite covers of surfaces have limited homology.

New 5D manifold found without certain Sasakian structure.

Given a diagram of a link K in S^3, we write down a Heegaard diagram for the branched-double cover Sigma(K). The generators of the associated Heegaard Floer chain complex correspond to Kauffman states of the link diagram. Using this model we make some computations of the homology \hat{HF}(Sigma(K)) as a graded group. W…

In this paper we show that flat (m-1)-dimensional tori give nontrivial rational homology cycles in congruence covers of the locally symmetric space SL(m,Z) \SL(m,R)/SO(m). We also show that the dimension of the subspace of H_{m-1}(Γ\SL(m,R)/SO(m);Q) spanned by flat (m-1)-tori grows as one goes up in congruence covers.

Consider a finite, regular cover $Y\to X$ of finite graphs, with associated deck group $G$. We relate the topology of the cover to the structure of $H_1(Y;\mathbb{C})$ as a $G$-representation. A central object in this study is the {\em primitive homology} group $H_1^{\mathrm{prim}}(Y;\mathbb{C})\subseteq H_1(Y;\mathbb{…

Khovanov homology ist a new link invariant, discovered by M. Khovanov, and used by J. Rasmussen to give a combinatorial proof of the Milnor conjecture. In this thesis, we give examples of mutant links with different Khovanov homology. We prove that Khovanov's chain complex retracts to a subcomplex, whose generators are…

New method finds unbranched covers with non-kernel homology.

Developed Gompf connected sum for orbifolds, constructing symplectic and K-contact manifolds.

We prove existence and regularity of minimizers for Hölder densities over general surfaces of arbitrary dimension and codimension in \(\R^n \), satisfying a cohomological boundary condition, providing a natural dual to Reifenberg's Plateau problem. We generalize and extend methods of Reifenberg, Besicovitch, and Adams,…

In their recent preprint, Baldwin, Ozsváth and Szabó defined a twisted version (with coefficients in a Novikov ring) of a spectral sequence, previously defined by Ozsváth and Szabó, from Khovanov homology to Heegaard-Floer homology of the branched double cover along a link. In their preprint, they give a combinatorial …

Proves conjecture about surface cover homology.

We prove a number of new restrictions on the enumerative properties of homology manifolds and semi-Eulerian complexes and posets. These include a determination of the affine span of the fine $h$-vector of balanced semi-Eulerian complexes and the toric $h$-vector of semi-Eulerian posets. The lower bounds on simplicial h…

Determinants of theta curves and symmetric graphs are studied.

A Kuranishi space is a topological space with a Kuranishi structure, defined by Fukaya and Ono. Kuranishi structures occur naturally on moduli spaces of J-holomorphic curves in symplectic geometry. This paper is a brief introduction to the author's book arXiv:0707.3572. Let Y be an orbifold and R a Q-algebra. We define…

We give a new proof of the theorem of Birman-Powell that the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface of genus at least 3 is generated by simple homeomorphisms known as bounding pair maps. The key ingredient is a proof that the subcomplex of the curve complex of the surface spanned by …

This paper presents an algorithm to construct a weighted adjacency matrix of a plane bipartite graph obtained from a pretzel knot diagram. The determinant of this matrix after evaluation is shown to be the Jones polynomial of the pretzel knot by way of perfect matchings (or dimers) of this graph. The weights are Tutte'…

We use recoupling theory to study the Kauffman bracket skein module of the quaternionic manifold over Z[A,A^{-1}] localized by inverting all the cyclotomic polynomials. We prove that the skein module is spanned by five elements. Using the quantum invariants of these skein elements and the Z_2 homology of the manifold, …

In this paper we use Heegaard Floer link homology to determine the dual Thurston polytope for pretzel links of the form P(-2r_1-1, 2q_1, -2q_2, 2r_2+1) where r_i and q_i are positive integers. We apply this result to determine the Thurston norms of spanning surfaces for the individual link components, and we explicitly…

Study of discrete period matrices on embedded graphs, relating to Riemann surfaces.

Extends Gordon-Litherland pairing to links in thickened surfaces, defining new invariants.

In this paper, we extend the theory of sutured Floer homology developed by the author. We first prove an adjunction inequality, and then define a polytope P(M,g) in H^2(M,\partial M; R) that is spanned by the Spin^c-structures which support non-zero Floer homology groups. If (M,g) --> (M',g') is a taut surface decompos…

Two fundamental objects in knot theory are the minimal genus surface and the least area surface bounded by a knot in a 3-dimensional manifold. When the knot is embedded in a general 3-manifold, the problems of finding these surfaces were shown to be NP-complete and NP-hard respectively. However, there is evidence that …

This work extends SVM error bounds to weighted SVM and introduces hyperparameter selection methods.

New spanning 3-disks found for unlink in 4-sphere.

Surgery triangles are an important computational tool in Floer homology. Given a connected oriented surface $Σ$, we consider the abelian group $K(Σ)$ generated by bordered 3-manifolds with boundary $Σ$, modulo the relation that the three manifolds involved in any surgery triangle sum to zero. We show that $K(Σ)$ is a f…

Develops tests for Markowitz stochastic dominance spanning using saddle points.

Sharp bounds for spanning tree entropy in planar lattices.

Totally geodesic surfaces found in knots and links.

Let M be a complete, finite-volume, orientable hyperbolic manifold having exactly one cusp. If we assume that pi_1(M) has no subgroup isomorphic to a genus-2 surface group, and that either (a) H_1(M;Z_p) has dimension at least 5 for some prime p, or (b) H_1(M;Z_2) has dimension at least 4, and the subspace of H^2(M;Z_2…