Knot Floer Homology, the Burau Representation, and Quantum $\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1)$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Boninger, Joe
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866909839331950592
author Boninger, Joe
author_facet Boninger, Joe
contents The Burau representation of braid groups and knot Floer homology share a link to the Fox calculus. We make this connection explicit, with the following outcome: if $B$ is the full Burau matrix of any braid, and $A$ is any square submatrix of $B - λI$, we define a Heegaard Floer homology theory that categorifies $\det(A)$ and is an invariant of the braid. We also describe an analogous construction for the Gassner representation. Then, we leverage the relationship between the Burau representation and quantum $\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1)$ to exhibit connections between the latter and Heegaard Floer homology. We associate a bordered sutured Heegaard Floer homology group to any tangle, and give a simple, geometric proof that our invariant recovers the $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1))$ braid representation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_15321
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Knot Floer Homology, the Burau Representation, and Quantum $\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1)$
Boninger, Joe
Geometric Topology
Quantum Algebra
57K10, 57K16, 57K18
The Burau representation of braid groups and knot Floer homology share a link to the Fox calculus. We make this connection explicit, with the following outcome: if $B$ is the full Burau matrix of any braid, and $A$ is any square submatrix of $B - λI$, we define a Heegaard Floer homology theory that categorifies $\det(A)$ and is an invariant of the braid. We also describe an analogous construction for the Gassner representation. Then, we leverage the relationship between the Burau representation and quantum $\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1)$ to exhibit connections between the latter and Heegaard Floer homology. We associate a bordered sutured Heegaard Floer homology group to any tangle, and give a simple, geometric proof that our invariant recovers the $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1))$ braid representation.
title Knot Floer Homology, the Burau Representation, and Quantum $\mathfrak{gl}(1 \vert 1)$
topic Geometric Topology
Quantum Algebra
57K10, 57K16, 57K18
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15321