arXiv research

The dual to a tetrahedron consists of a single vertex at which four edges and six faces are incident. Along each edge, three faces converge. A 2-foam is a compact topological space such that each point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to a neighborhood of that complex. Knotted foams in 4-dimensional space are to knotted…

By 2-twist-spinning the knotted graph that represents the knotted handlebody $5_2$, we obtain a knotted foam in 4-dimensional space with a non-trivial quandle cocycle invariant.

We show how to use Bar-Natan's `divide and conquer' approach to computations to efficiently compute the universal sl(2) dotted foam cohomology groups, even for big knots and links. We also describe a purely topological version of the sl(2) foam theory, in the sense that no dots are needed on foams.

This paper characterizes Kashiwara-Vergne groups using algebraic structures of knotted tubes.

Spectral sequence connects knot homologies via algebraic geometry.

This is the second in a series of papers dedicated to studying w-knots, and more generally, w-knotted objects (w-braids, w-tangles, etc.). These are classes of knotted objects that are wider but weaker than their "usual" counterparts. To get (say) w-knots from usual knots (or u-knots), one has to allow non-planar "virt…

The paper extends graph signatures to Klein graphs and foams, linking signatures to knot properties.

We study a certain class of embedded two-foams that arise from gluing discs into ribbon torus knots along nonintersecting torus meridians. We exhibit several equivalent diagrammatic formalisms for these objects and identify several of their invariants, including a unique prime decomposition.

Homology theory for qualgebras yields knotted graph and foam invariants.

We investigate the filtered theory corresponding to the universal sl(2) foam cohomology $H_{a,h}$ for links, where a and h are complex numbers. We show that there is a spectral sequence converging to $H_{a,h}$ which is invariant under the Reidemeister moves, and whose E1 term is isomorphic to Khovanov homology. This sp…

We exhibit a certain infinite family of three-stranded quasi-alternating pretzel knots which are counterexamples to Lobb's conjecture that the sl_3-knot concordance invariant s_3 (suitably normalised) should be equal to the Rasmussen invariant s_2. For this family, |s_3| < |s_2|. However, we also find other knots for w…

Quantum method categorifies knot polynomial.

Foams are surfaces with branch lines at which three sheets merge. They have been used in the categorification of sl(3) quantum knot invariants and also in physics. The 2D-TQFT of surfaces, on the other hand, is classified by means of commutative Frobenius algebras, where saddle points correspond to multiplication and c…

In 1965, E. C. Zeeman proved that the (+/-)-twist spin of any knotted sphere in (n-1)-space is unknotted in the n-sphere. In 1991, Y. Marumoto and Y. Nakanishi gave an alternate proof of Zeeman's theorem by using the moving picture method. In this paper, we define a knotted 2-dimensional foam which is a generalization …

Using quantum skew-Howe duality, we study the category $\operatorname{Rep}(\mathfrak{gl}(m|n))$ of tensor products of exterior powers of the standard representation of $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(m|n))$, and prove that it is equivalent to a category of ladder diagrams modulo one extra family of relations. We then construct a ca…

Estimates the minimum surface area of foam structures.

Paper connects algebraic K-theory to foam geometry.

Generators and relations found for foam categories.

Lectures introduce evaluation of SL(3) foams and link homology.

The paper evaluates homology for links in a solid torus with special boundary conditions.

Develops invariants for webs and foams using Seiberg-Witten theory.

This paper contains a categorification of the sl(k) link invariant using parabolic singular blocks of category O. Our approach is intended to be as elementary as possible, providing combinatorial proofs of the main results of Sussan. We first construct an exact functor valued invariant of webs or 'special' trivalent gr…

Foams have Lie algebra symmetries that simplify web state spaces.

Foams describe singular cobordisms for Khovanov homology.

We use foams to give a topological construction of a rational link homology categorifying the slN link invariant, for N>3. To evaluate closed foams we use the Kapustin-Li formula adapted to foams by Khovanov and Rozansky. We show that for any link our homology is isomorphic to Khovanov and Rozansky's.

Study of unoriented SL(4) foams in 3-manifolds.

New homology for links in annulus discovered.

Foam cobordism groups linked to interval exchange automorphisms.

The paper extends foam theory to more complex trivalent graphs.

Formula for evaluating foams related to $\mathfrak{sl}_N$.

Foams 2-equivalent to singular Soergel bimodules.

The paper constructs semistrict monoidal 2-categories from foam evaluations.

Defines new $\mathfrak{gl}_2$-foams and their algebras, showing equivalence and applications.

Categorifies symmetric link invariants using foam technology.

We give a purely combinatorial construction of colored $\mathfrak{sl}_n$ link homology. The invariant takes values in a 2-category where 2-morphisms are given by foams, singular cobordisms between $\mathfrak{sl}_n$ webs; applying a (TQFT-like) representable functor recovers (colored) Khovanov-Rozansky homology. Novel f…

We employ the sl(2) foam cohomology to define a cohomology theory for oriented framed tangles whose components are labelled by irreducible representations of U_q(sl(2)). We show that the corresponding colored invariants of tangles can be assembled into invariants of bigger tangles. For the case of knots and links, the …

In this thesis we define and study a categorification of the sl(N)-link polynomial using foams, for N\geq 3. For N=3 we define the universal sl(3)-link homology, using foams, which depends on three parameters and show that it is functorial, up to scalars, with respect to link cobordisms. Our theory is integral. We show…

In this paper I define certain interesting 2-functors from the Khovanov-Lauda 2-category which categorifies quantum sl(k), for any k>1, to a 2-category of universal sl(3) foams with corners. For want of a better name I use the term "foamation" to indicate those 2-functors. I conjecture the existence of similar 2-functo…

We show that Khovanov homology (and its sl(3) variant) can be understood in the context of higher representation theory. Specifically, we show that the combinatorially defined foam constructions of these theories arise as a family of 2-representations of categorified quantum sl(m) via categorical skew Howe duality. Uti…

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…

We define two functors from Elias and Khovanov's diagrammatic Soergel category, one targeting Clark-Morrison-Walker's category of disoriented sl(2) cobordisms and the other the category of (universal) sl(3) foams.

We prove that the foam and matrix factorization universal rational sl3 link homologies are naturally isomorphic as projective functors from the category of link and link cobordisms to the category of bigraded vector spaces.

SU(3) instanton homology counts Tait colorings for webs and foams.

We use 4-valent planar graphs and singular cobordisms (called foams) to construct an integral doubly-graded cohomology for tangles, and in particular for links, whose graded Euler characteristic yields the sl(n) link polynomial (for n > 3).

We construct the universal sl(2)-tangle cohomology using an approach with webs and dotted foams. This theory depends on two parameters, and for the case of links it is a categorification of the unnormalized Jones polynomial of the link.

Derives equilibrium law for Plateau borders in wet soap films and foams.

The aim of this note is to take benefit of the foam nature of the Khovanov-Kuperberg algebras to compute the Grothendieck groups of their categories of finitely generated projective modules. The computation relies on the Hattori-Stallings trace and some geometrical properties of foams in a solid torus.

We construct a cohomology theory for oriented links using singular cobordisms and a special type of 2-dimensional Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT), categorifying the quantum sl(2) invariant. In particular, we give a description of the universal dot-free sl(2) foam cohomology for links via a TQFT.