arXiv research

We investigate several topological and combinatorial properties of line arrangements. We associate to a line arrangement a link obtained by intersecting the arrangement with some sphere. Several topics are discussed: (a) some link configurations can be realized by complex line arrangements but not by real line arrangem…

We study configuration space integral formulas for Milnor's homotopy link invariants, showing that they are in correspondence with certain linear combinations of trivalent trees. Our proof is essentially a combinatorial analysis of a certain space of trivalent "homotopy link diagrams" which corresponds to all finite ty…

We consider a generic configuration of regions, consisting of a collection of distinct compact regions $\{Ω_i\}$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ which may be either smooth regions disjoint from the others or regions which meet on their piecewise smooth boundaries $\mathcal{B}_i$ in a generic way. We introduce a skeletal linking …

This article surveys the use of configuration space integrals in the study of the topology of knot and link spaces. The main focus is the exposition of how these integrals produce finite type invariants of classical knots and links. More generally, we also explain the construction of a chain map, given by configuration…

Elliptic curve governs Hopf linking in symmetric tensegrity.

Constructs universal link invariants from intersections in configuration spaces.

We prove a version of symmetric criticality for ropelength-critical knots. Our theorem implies that a knot or link with a symmetric representative has a ropelength-critical configuration with the same symmetry. We use this to construct new examples of ropelength critical configurations for knots and links which are dif…

Geometrically describes the linear and quadratic forms for rational links.

These introductory lectures show how to define finite type invariants of links and 3-manifolds by counting graph configurations in 3-manifolds, following ideas of Witten and Kontsevich. The linking number is the simplest finite type invariant for 2-component links. It is defined in many equivalent ways in the first sec…

Configuration space integrals have in recent years been used for studying the cohomology of spaces of (string) knots and links in $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n>3$ since they provide a map from a certain differential algebra of diagrams to the deRham complex of differential forms on the spaces of knots and links. We refine this…

We construct a pair of isotopic link configurations that are not thick isotopic while preserving total length.

Researchers find optimal configurations of complex knots and links.

Formula for Milnor triple linking number in link diagrams with multiple crossings.

Study of spaces of pure braids and string links using diagrams and integrals.

We find that Koschorke's $β$-invariant and the triple $μ$-invariant of link maps in the critical dimension can be computed as degrees of certain maps of configuration spaces - just like the linking number. Both formulas admit geometric interpretations in terms of Vassiliev's ornaments via new operations akin to the Jin…

The perturbative expression of Chern-Simons theory for links in Euclidean 3-space is a linear combination of integrals on configuration spaces. This has successively been studied by Guadagnini, Martellini and Mintchev, Bar-Natan, Kontsevich, Bott and Taubes, D. Thurston, Altschuler and Freidel, Yang and others. We give…

New proof found for Khovanov's assertion about Frobenius algebra twists.

Positive scalar curvature metrics on cobordisms yield only reducible Seiberg-Witten solutions.

We use rational formality of configuration spaces and the bar construction to study the cohomology of the space of braids in dimension four or greater. We provide a diagram complex for braids and a quasi-isomorphism to the de Rham cochains on the space of braids. The quasi-isomorphism is given by a configuration space …

In the course of our work on low-volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds, we came upon a linking problem for horoball necklaces in $\mathbb{H}^3$. A horoball necklace is a collection of sequentially tangent beards (i.e. spheres) with disjoint interiors lying on a flat table (i.e. a plane) such that each bead is of diameter at mo…

In 1974, Gehring posed the problem of minimizing the length of two linked curves separated by unit distance. This constraint can be viewed as a measure of thickness for links, and the ratio of length over thickness as the ropelength. In this paper we refine Gehring's problem to deal with links in a fixed link-homotopy …

The main result in this paper is that the space of all smooth links in Euclidean 3-space isotopic to the trivial link of n components has the same homotopy type as its finite-dimensional subspace consisting of configurations of n unlinked Euclidean circles (the "rings" in the title). There is also an analogous result f…

New proof of trapezoidal property for Alexander polynomials of special alternating links.

New geometric proof for rational tangles links-quivers correspondence.

We construct a completed version C(Gamma) of the configuration space of a linkage Gamma in R^3 which takes into account the ways one link can touch another. We also describe a simplified version of C(Gamma) which is a blow-up of the space of immersions of Gamma in R^3 A number of simple detailed examples are given.

New method describes entanglement of straight lines in 3D space.

Link groups can only have certain SU(2) representations.

Koschorke introduced a map from the space of closed $n$-component links to the ordered configuration space of $n$-tuples of points in $\mathbb{R}^3$, and conjectured that this map separates homotopy links. The purpose of this paper is to construct an analogous map for string links, and to prove (1) this map in fact sep…

In this paper, we study contact surgeries along Legendrian links in the standard contact 3-sphere. On one hand, we use algebraic methods to prove the vanishing of the contact Ozsváth-Szabó invariant for contact $(+1)$-surgery along certain Legendrian two-component links. The main tool is a link surgery formula for Heeg…

We categorise coherent band (aka nullification) pathways between knots and 2-component links. Additionally, we characterise the minimal coherent band pathways (with intermediates) between any two knots or 2-component links with small crossing number. We demonstrate these band surgeries for knots and links with small cr…

For any two disjoint oriented circles embedded into the 3-dimensional real projective space, we construct a 3-dimensional configuration space and its map to the projective space such that the linking number of the circles is the half of the degree of the map. Similar interpretations are given for the linking number of …

Geodesic rays and chordal distances link algebraic and geometric properties of positive metrics.

A two-component link produces a torus as the product of the component knots in a two-point configuration space of a three-sphere. This space can be identified with a cotangent bundle and also with an indefinite Grassmannian. We show that the integration of the absolute value of the canonical symplectic form is equal to…

For any tangle $T$ (up to isotopy) and integer $k\geq 1$ we construct a group $F(T)$ (up to isomorphism). It is the fundamental group of the configuration space of $k$ points in a horizontal plane avoiding the tangle, provided the tangle is in what we call Heegaard position. This is analogous to the first half of Lawre…

A mechanical linkage is a mechanism made of rigid rods linked together by flexible joints, in which some vertices are fixed and others may move. The partial configuration space of a linkage is the set of all the possible positions of a subset of the vertices. We characterize the possible partial configuration spaces of…

In this self-contained book, following Edward Witten, Maxim Kontsevich, Greg Kuperberg and Dylan Thurston, we define an invariant Z of framed links in rational homology 3-spheres, and we study its properties. The invariant Z, which is often called the perturbative expansion of the Chern-Simons theory, is valued in a gr…

The paper classifies holomorphic maps between Riemann surface configuration spaces.

We investigate the local contribution of the braid monodromy factorization in the context of the links obtained by the closure of these braids. We consider plane curves which are arrangements of lines and conics as well as some algebraic surfaces, where some of the former occur as local configurations in degenerated an…

The total homology of the loop space of the configuration space of ordered distinct n points in R^m has a structure of a Hopf algebra defined by the 4-term relations if m>2. We describe a relation of between the cohomology of this loop space and the set of finite type invariants for the pure braid group with n strands.…

We give an introductory survey on the universal Vassiliev invariant called the perturbative series expansion of the Chern-Simons theory of links in euclidean space, and on its relation with the Kontsevich integral. We also prove an original geometric property of the anomaly of Bott, Taubes, Altschuler, Freidel and D. T…

Study algebraic curves in C^2 using Floer theory.

Computes knot types using HOMFLY-PT polynomial.

Bayesian method predicts future network configurations from past snapshots.

We review the author's results on Mather's $β$ function : non-strict convexity of $β$ when the configuration space has dimension two, link between the size of the Aubry set and the differentiability of $β$, correlation between the rationality of the homology class and the differentiability of $β$, equality of the Mathe…

Elliptic curves and braid groups linked through configuration spaces.

We provide an alternative proof that Koschorke's $κ$-invariant is injective on the set of link homotopy classes of $n$-component homotopy Brunnian links $BLM(n)$. The existing proof (by Koschorke \cite{Koschorke97}) is based on the Pontryagin--Thom theory of framed cobordisms, whereas ours is closer in spirit to techni…

Topological model created for HOMFLY-PT polynomial from link diagrams.

DeepRSCN models nonlinear systems using stochastic configurations.