© | << < ? > >> | Dror Bar-Natan: Talks:

Khovanov Homology for Tangles and Cobordisms

Interactions between Representation Theories, Knot Theory, Topology, Quantum Field Theory, Category Theory, and Mathematical Physics.

SUNY Potsdam, June 4, 2003.

Abstract: The minor advantage of homology theory over the Euler characteristic is that it is a finer invariant. The major advantage is that it is a functor: Given a map between spaces there is a map between their homologies. Think of almost any major theorem in algebraic topology and you'll find that the functoriallity of homology is deeply involved. In my talk, I will explain in elementary terms what seems to be the corresponding property of Khovanov's homology: that it is a functor from the category of links and cobordisms to the category of vector spaces (see Jacobsson's arXiv:math.GT/0206303 and Khovanov's arXiv:math.QA/0207264). My proof of this property is in the spirit of Khovanov's, but it is both simpler and more general. It involves the extension of the theory to the canopoly of tangle cobordisms, with values in several related canopolies.

What's a canopoly? No, that would go in the talk; not here. It's an object with a rather messy formal definition but a very simple visual image.

Handout: NewHandout.pdf.