A volume form on the Khovanov invariant
Abstract
Description
The Reidemeister torsion construction can be applied to the chain complex used to compute the Khovanov homology of a knot or a link. This defines a volume form on Khovanov homology. The volume form transforms correctly under Reidemeister moves to give an invariant volume on the Khovanov homology. In this paper, its construction and invariance under these moves is demonstrated. Also, some examples of the invariant are presented for particular choices for the bases of homology groups to obtain a numerical invariant of knots and links. In these examples, the algebraic torsion seen in the Khovanov chain complex when homology is computed over $\mathbb{Z}$ is recovered.
29 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables
29 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables