Quantum invariants of links and 3-valent graphs in 3-manifolds
A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We study algebraic invariants of strings as well as two equivalence relations on the set of strings: homotopy and cobordism. We show that the homotopy invariants of strings form an infinite dimensional Lie group. We also discuss connections between virtual strings and virtual knots.
We introduce a notion of a Fox pairing in a group algebra and use Fox pairings to define automorphisms of the Malcev completions of groups. These automorphisms generalize to the algebraic setting the action of the Dehn twists in the group algebras of the fundamental groups of surfaces. This work is inspired by the Kawazumi–Kuno generalization of the Dehn twists to non-simple closed curves on surfaces.
The present paper is a continuation of our previous paper [Topology 44 (2005), 747-767], where we extended the Burau representation to oriented tangles. We now study further properties of this construction.
Page 1