Kauffman Bracket Skein Module Research Articles

A quantum invariant of links in T2× I with volume conjecture behavior

We define a polynomial invariant $J_n^T$ of links in the thickened torus. We call $J^T_n$ the $n$th toroidal colored Jones polynomial, and show it satisfies many properties of the original colored Jones polynomial. Most significantly, $J_n^T$ exhibits volume conjecture behavior. We prove the volume conjecture for the 2-by-2 square weave, and provide computational evidence for other links. We also give two equivalent constructions of $J_n^T$, one as a generalized operator invariant we call a pseudo-operator invariant, and another using the Kauffman bracket skein module of the torus. Finally, we show $J^T_n$ produces invariants of biperiodic and virtual links. To our knowledge, $J^T_n$ gives the first example of volume conjecture behavior in a virtual (non-classical) link.

The Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of (2,2p + 1)-torus knots via braids

In this paper we compute the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of (2,2p+1)-torus knots, KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c), via braids. We start by considering geometric mixed braids in S3, the closure of which are mixed links in S3 that represent links in the complement of (2,2p+1)-torus knots, T(2,2p+1)c. Using the technique of parting and combing geometric mixed braids, we obtain algebraic mixed braids, that is, mixed braids that belong to the mixed braid group B2,n and that are followed by their “coset” part, that represents T(2,2p+1)c. In that way we show that links in T(2,2p+1)c may be pushed to the genus 2 handlebody, H2, and we establish a relation between KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c) and KBSM(H2). In particular, we show that in order to compute KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c) it suffices to consider a basis of KBSM(H2) and study the effect of combing on elements in this basis. We consider the standard basis of KBSM(H2) and we show how to treat its elements in KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c), passing through many different spanning sets for KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c). These spanning sets form the intermediate steps in order to reach at the set BT(2,2p+1)c, which, using an ordering relation and the notion of total winding, we prove that it forms a basis for KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c). Note that elements in BT(2,2p+1)c have no crossings on the level of braids, and in that sense, BT(2,2p+1)c forms a more natural basis of KBSM(T(2,2p+1)c) in our setting. We finally consider c.c.o. 3-manifolds M obtained from S3 by surgery along the trefoil knot and we discuss steps needed in order to compute the Kauffman bracket skein module of M. We first demonstrate the process described before for computing the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of the trefoil, KBSM(Trc), and we study the effect of braid band moves on elements in the basis of KBSM(Trc). These moves reflect isotopy in M and are similar to the second Kirby moves.The “braid” method that we propose for computing Kauffman bracket skein modules seem promising in computing KBSM of arbitrary c.c.o. 3-manifolds M. The only difficulty lies in finding the sufficient relations that reduce elements in the basis of our underlying genus g-handlebody, Hg. These relations come from combing in the case of knot complements and from combing and braid band moves for 3-manifolds obtained by surgery along a knot in S3. Our aim is to set the necessary background of this “braid” approach in order to compute Kauffman bracket skein modules of arbitrary 3-manifolds.

The Kauffman bracket skein module of the lens spaces via unoriented braids

In this paper, we develop a braid theoretic approach for computing the Kauffman bracket skein module of the lens spaces [Formula: see text], KBSM([Formula: see text]), for [Formula: see text]. For doing this, we introduce a new concept, that of an unoriented braid. Unoriented braids are obtained from standard braids by ignoring the natural top-to-bottom orientation of the strands. We first define the generalized Temperley–Lieb algebra of type B, [Formula: see text], which is related to the knot theory of the solid torus ST, and we obtain the universal Kauffman bracket-type invariant, [Formula: see text], for knots and links in ST, via a unique Markov trace constructed on [Formula: see text]. The universal invariant [Formula: see text] is equivalent to the KBSM(ST). For passing now to the KBSM([Formula: see text]), we impose on [Formula: see text] relations coming from the band moves (or slide moves), that is, moves that reflect isotopy in [Formula: see text] but not in ST, and which reflect the surgery description of [Formula: see text], obtaining thus, an infinite system of equations. By construction, solving this infinite system of equations is equivalent to computing KBSM([Formula: see text]). We first present the solution for the case [Formula: see text], which corresponds to obtaining a new basis, [Formula: see text], for KBSM([Formula: see text]) with [Formula: see text] elements. We note that the basis [Formula: see text] is different from the one obtained by Hoste and Przytycki. For dealing with the complexity of the infinite system for the case [Formula: see text], we first show how the new basis [Formula: see text] of KBSM([Formula: see text]) can be obtained using a diagrammatic approach based on unoriented braids, and we finally extend our result to the case [Formula: see text]. The advantage of the braid theoretic approach that we propose for computing skein modules of c.c.o. 3-manifolds, is that the use of braids provides more control on the isotopies of knots and links in the manifolds, and much of the diagrammatic complexity is absorbed into the proofs of the algebraic statements.

The skein algebra of the Borromean rings complement

The skein algebra of an oriented three-manifold is a classical limit of the Kauffman bracket skein module and gives the coordinate ring of the [Formula: see text]-character variety. In this paper, we determine the quotient of a polynomial ring which is isomorphic to the skein algebra of a group with three generators and two relators. As an application, we give an explicit formula for the skein algebra of the Borromean rings complement in [Formula: see text].

Kauffman bracket versus Jones polynomial skein modules

This paper resolves the problem of comparing the skein modules defined using the skein relations discovered by Melvin and Kirby that underlie the quantum group-based Reshetikhin–Turaev model for [Formula: see text] Chern–Simons theory to the Kauffman bracket skein modules. Several applications and examples are presented.

The action of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of the torus on the Kauffman bracket skein module of the 3-twist knot complement

We determine the action of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of the torus on the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of the 3-twist knot. The point is to study the relationship between knot complements and their boundary tori, an idea that has proved very fruitful in knot theory. We place this idea in the context of Chern–Simons theory, where such actions arose in connection with the computation of the noncommutative version of the A-polynomial that was defined by Frohman, the first author, and Lofaro, but they can also be interpreted as quantum mechanical systems. Our goal is to exhibit a detailed example in a part of Chern–Simons theory where examples are scarce.

A basis for the Kauffman skein module of the product of a surface and a circle

The Kauffman bracket skein module $S(M)$ of a 3-manifold $M$ is a $\mathbb{Q}(A)$-vector space spanned by links in $M$ modulo the so-called Kauffman relations. In this article, for any closed oriented surface $\Sigma$ we provide an explicit spanning family for the skein modules $S(\Sigma\times S^1)$. Combined with earlier work of Gilmer and Masbaum, we answer their question about the dimension of $S(\Sigma\times S^1)$ being $2^{2g+1} + 2g -1$.

Kauffman bracket skein module of the connected sum of handlebodies and non-injectivity

For the handlebody [Formula: see text] of genus [Formula: see text], Przytycki studied the (Kauffman bracket) skein module [Formula: see text] of the connected sum [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text]. One of his results is that, in the case when [Formula: see text] is invertible for any [Formula: see text], a homomorphism [Formula: see text] is an isomorphism, which is induced by a natural way. In this paper, in the case when [Formula: see text], the ground ring is [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] is a [Formula: see text]-th root of unity ([Formula: see text]), we show that [Formula: see text] is not injective.

Erratum to: Kauffman bracket skein module of a connected sum of 3-manifolds

This note is an erratum pointing out an error in Theorem 7.1 in the paper [4] which was published in Manuscripta Math. in the year 2000.

Cyclotomic expansion of generalized Jones polynomials

In (Compos. Math. 152(7): 1333–1384, 2016), Berest and Samuelson proposed a conjecture that the Kauffman bracket skein module of any knot in \(S^3\) carries a natural action of a rank 1 double-affine Hecke algebra \(SH_{q,t_1, t_2}\) depending on 3 parameters \(q, t_1, t_2\). As a consequence, for a knot K satisfying this conjecture, we defined a three-variable polynomial invariant \(J^K_n(q,t_1,t_2)\) generalizing the classical coloured Jones polynomials \(J^K_n(q)\). In this paper, we give explicit formulas and provide a quantum group interpretation for the polynomials \(J^K_n(q,t_1,t_2)\). Our formulas generalize the so-called cyclotomic expansion of the classical Jones polynomials constructed by Habiro (Invent. Math. 171(1): 1–81, 2008) : as in the classical case, they imply the integrality of \(J^K_n(q,t_1,t_2)\) and, in fact, make sense for an arbitrary knot K independent of whether or not it satisfies the conjecture of Berest and Samuelson (Compos. Math. 152(7): 1333–1384, 2016). When one of the Hecke deformation parameters is set to be 1, we show that the coefficients of the (generalized) cyclotomic expansion of \(J^K_n(q,t_1)\) are expressed in terms of Macdonald orthogonal polynomials.

Kauffman bracket skein module of the connected sum of handlebodies: a counterexample

In this paper we provide a counterexample to a 22-year-old theorem about the structure of the Kauffman bracket skein module of the connected sum of two handlebodies. We achieve this by analysing handle slidings on compressing discs in a handlebody. We find more relations than previously predicted for the Kauffman bracket skein module of the connected sum of handlebodies, when one of them is not a solid torus. Additionally, we speculate on the structure of the Kauffman bracket skein module of the connected sum of two solid tori.

Infinite families of hyperbolic 3‐manifolds with finite‐dimensional skein modules

The Kauffman bracket skein module $K(M)$ of a $3$-manifold $M$ is the quotient of the $\mathbb{Q}(A)$-vector space spanned by isotopy classes of links in $M$ by the Kauffman relations. A conjecture of Witten states that if $M$ is closed then $K(M)$ is finite dimensional. We introduce a version of this conjecture for manifolds with boundary and prove a stability property for generic Dehn-filling of knots. As a result we provide the first hyperbolic examples of the conjecture, proving that almost all Dehn-fillings of any two-bridge knot satisfies the conjecture.

On Kauffman bracket skein modules of marked 3–manifolds and the Chebyshev–Frobenius homomorphism

In this paper we study the skein algebras of marked surfaces and the skein modules of marked 3-manifolds. Muller showed that skein algebras of totally marked surfaces may be embedded in easy to study algebras known as quantum tori. We first extend Muller's result to permit marked surfaces with unmarked boundary components. The addition of unmarked components allows us to develop a surgery theory which enables us to extend the Chebyshev homomorphism of Bonahon and Wong between skein algebras of unmarked surfaces to a "Chebyshev-Frobenius homomorphism" between skein modules of marked 3-manifolds. We show that the image of the Chebyshev-Frobenius homomorphism is either transparent or skew-transparent. In addition, we make use of the Muller algebra method to calculate the center of the skein algebra of a marked surface when the quantum parameter is not a root of unity.

The Kauffman bracket skein module of the handlebody of genus 2 via braids

In this paper we present two new bases, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], for the Kauffman bracket skein module of the handlebody of genus 2 [Formula: see text], KBSM[Formula: see text]. We start from the well-known Przytycki-basis of KBSM[Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and using the technique of parting we present elements in [Formula: see text] in open braid form. We define an ordering relation on an augmented set [Formula: see text] consisting of monomials of all different “loopings” in [Formula: see text], that contains the sets [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] as proper subsets. Using the Kauffman bracket skein relation we relate [Formula: see text] to the sets [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] via a lower triangular infinite matrix with invertible elements in the diagonal. The basis [Formula: see text] is an intermediate step in order to reach at elements in [Formula: see text] that have no crossings on the level of braids, and in that sense, [Formula: see text] is a more natural basis of KBSM[Formula: see text]. Moreover, this basis is appropriate in order to compute Kauffman bracket skein modules of closed–connected–oriented (c.c.o.) 3-manifolds [Formula: see text] that are obtained from [Formula: see text] by surgery, since isotopy moves in [Formula: see text] are naturally described by elements in [Formula: see text].

On the skein module of the product of a surface and a circle

Let Σ \Sigma be a closed oriented surface of genus g g . We show that the Kauffman bracket skein module of Σ × S 1 \Sigma \times S^1 over the field of rational functions in A A has dimension at least 2 2 g + 1 + 2 g − 1. 2^{2g+1}+2g-1.

Varieties via a filtration of the KBSM and knot contact homology

This paper explains a research on the character varieties and the Kauffman bracket skein module (KBSM) of knot exteriors, which has been done by the author in his stay at the University of California, Riverside, 2004-2006. As a main consequence, for any 2-bridge knot, we gave a representation theoretical proof to the conjecture that degree 0 abelian knot contact homology HC0ab(K) of a knot K in the 3-space R3 is isomorphic to the SL2(C)-character ring of the fundamental group of the 2-fold branched cover of the 3-sphere S3 branched along K. (This result was first shown by L. Ng [23] by using cord formalism.) Based on this result, deep studies of the conjecture has been done in [18–20].

Catalan states of lattice crossing: An application of plucking polynomial

For a Catalan state C of a lattice crossing L(m,n) with no returns on one side, we find its coefficient C(A) in the Relative Kauffman Bracket Skein Module expansion of L(m,n). We show, in particular, that C(A) can be found using the plucking polynomial of a rooted tree with a delay function associated to C. Furthermore, for C with returns on one side only, we prove that C(A) is a product of Gaussian polynomials, and its coefficients form a unimodal sequence.

On Rational Knots and Links in the Solid Torus

We introduce the notion of rational links in the solid torus. We show that rational links in the solid torus are fully characterized by rational tangles, and hence by the continued fraction of the rational tangle. Furthermore, we generalize this by giving an infinite family of ambient isotopy invariants of colored diagrams in the Kauffman bracket skein module of an oriented surface.

Dehn twists on Kauffman bracket skein algebras

We give an explicit formula for the action of the Dehn twist along a simple closed curve in a compact connected oriented surface on the completion of the filtered skein modules of the surface. To do this, we introduce filtrations of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra and the Kauffman bracket skein modules of the surface.

On the KBSM of links in lens spaces

In this paper, the properties of the Kauffman bracket skein module (KBSM) of [Formula: see text] are investigated. Links in lens spaces are represented both through band and disk diagrams. The possibility to transform between the diagrams enables us to compute the KBSM on an interesting class of examples consisting of inequivalent links with equivalent lifts in the [Formula: see text]-sphere. The computations show that the KBSM is an essential invariant, that is, it may take different values on links with equivalent lifts. We also show how the invariant is related to the Kauffman bracket of the lift in the [Formula: see text]-sphere.