Curved Rickard complexes and link homologies

Rickard complexes in the context of categorified quantum groups can be used to construct braid group actions. We define and study certain natural deformations of these complexes which we call curved Rickard complexes. One application is to obtain deformations of link homologies which generalize those of Batson–Seed [3] [J. Batson and C. Seed, A link-splitting spectral sequence in Khovanov homology, Duke Math. J. 164 2015, 5, 801–841] and Gorsky–Hogancamp [E. Gorsky and M. Hogancamp, Hilbert schemes and y-ification of Khovanov–Rozansky homology, preprint 2017] to arbitrary representations/partitions. Another is to relate the deformed homology defined algebro-geometrically in [S. Cautis and J. Kamnitzer, Knot homology via derived categories of coherent sheaves IV, colored links, Quantum Topol. 8 2017, 2, 381–411] to categorified quantum groups (this was the original motivation for this paper).

2-Knot homology and Yoshikawa move

Ng constructed an invariant of knots in [Formula: see text], a combinatorial knot contact homology. Extending his study, we construct an invariant of surface-knots in [Formula: see text] using marked graph diagrams.

Refined Chern–Simons theory in genus two

Reshetikhin–Turaev (a.k.a. Chern–Simons) TQFT is a functor that associates vector spaces to two-dimensional genus [Formula: see text] surfaces and linear operators to automorphisms of surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that there exists a Macdonald [Formula: see text]-deformation — refinement — of these operators that preserves the defining relations of the mapping class groups beyond genus 1. For this, we explicitly construct the refined TQFT representation of the genus 2 mapping class group in the case of rank one TQFT. This is a direct generalization of the original genus 1 construction of arXiv:1105.5117 opening a question that if it extends to any genus. Our construction is built upon a [Formula: see text]-deformation of the square of [Formula: see text]-6[Formula: see text] symbol of [Formula: see text], which we define using the Macdonald version of Fourier duality. This allows to compute the refined Jones polynomial for arbitrary knots in genus 2. In contrast with genus 1, the refined Jones polynomial in genus 2 does not appear to agree with the Poincare polynomial of the triply graded HOMFLY knot homology.

Earrings, Sutures, and Pointed Links

We prove a rank inequality on the instanton knot homology and the Khovanov homology of a link in $S^3$. The key step of the proof is to construct a spectral sequence relating Baldwin–Levine–Sarkar’s pointed Khovanov homology to a singular instanton invariant for pointed links.

Exceptional knot homology

The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we find a natural home for the double affine Hecke algebras (DAHA) in the physics of BPS states. Second, we introduce new invariants of torus knots and links called hyperpolynomials that address the “problem of negative coefficients” often encountered in DAHA-based approaches to homological invariants of torus knots and links. Furthermore, from the physics of BPS states and the spectra of singularities associated with Landau–Ginzburg potentials, we also describe a rich structure of differentials that act on homological knot invariants for exceptional groups and uniquely determine the latter for torus knots.