2009 Topology Seminar - 08
Topic
On two-fold branched covers, L-spaces, and Khovanov homology
Speakers
Details
Khovanov homology gives rise to a simple invariant of knots and links
taking values in the positive integers. Referred to as the width of a
link, this invariant is a measurement of the homology's support. In
general this quantity is not very well understood, though in relation
to two-fold branched covers of the 3-sphere, situations arise wherein
the width is quite well behaved. This talk will give some applications
of width resulting from this fact, and hint at some interaction with
L-spaces, a class of interesting manifolds that arise in Heegaard-Floer
homology.
