Algebra Seminar: Vertesi -- Combinatorial Tangle Floer homology

Vera Vertesi (University of Strasbourg) 

Friday 15 June, 12-1pm, Place: Carslaw 375 

Title: Combinatorial Tangle Floer homology 

Abstract: Knot Floer homology is an invariant for knots and links defined by Ozsvath and
Szabo and independently by Rasmussen.  It has proven to be a powerful invariant e.g.  in
computing the genus of a knot, or determining whether a knot is fibered.  In this talk I
give a combinatorial generalisation of knot Floer homology for tangles; Tangle Floer
homology is an invariant of tangles in D^3, S^2xI or in S^3.  Tangle Floer homology
satisfies a gluing theorem and its version in S^3 gives back a stabilisation of knot
Floer homology.  Finally, I will discuss how to see tangle Floer homology as a
categorification of the Reshetikhin-Turaev invariant for gl(1|1).  This is a joint work
with Ina Petkova and Alexander Ellis.