On Link Homology Theories from Extended Cobordisms

This paper is devoted to the study of algebraic structures leading to link homology theories. The originally used structures of Frobenius algebra and/or TQFT are modified in two directions. First, we refine 2-dimensional cobordisms by taking into account their embedding into the three space. Secondly, we extend the underlying cobordism category to a 2-category, where the usual relations hold up to 2-isomorphisms. The corresponding abelian 2-functor is called an extended quantum field theory (EQFT). We show that the Khovanov homology, the nested Khovanov homology, extracted by Stroppel and Webster from Seidel-Smith construction, and the odd Khovanov homology fit into this setting. Moreover, we prove that any EQFT based on a Z_2-extension of the embedded cobordism category which coincides with Khovanov after reducing the coefficients modulo 2, gives rise to a link invariant homology theory isomorphic to those of Khovanov.Comment: Lots of figure

Coxeter groups and random groups

For every dimension d, there is an infinite family of convex co-compact reflection groups of isometries of hyperbolic d-space --- the superideal (simplicial and cubical) reflection groups --- with the property that a random group at any density less than a half (or in the few relators model) contains quasiconvex subgroups commensurable with some member of the family, with overwhelming probability.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures; version 2 incorporates referee's correction

Embeddability of open-ended carbon nanotubes in hypercubes

AbstractA graph that can be isometrically embedded into a hypercube is called a partial cube. An open-ended carbon nanotube is a part of hexagonal tessellation of a cylinder. In this article we determine all open-ended carbon nanotubes which are partial cubes

Asymptotic Equivalence of Symplectic Capacities

A long-standing conjecture states that all normalized symplectic capacities coincide on the class of convex subsets of ${\mathbb R}^{2n}$. In this note we focus on an asymptotic (in the dimension) version of this conjecture, and show that when restricted to the class of centrally symmetric convex bodies in ${\mathbb R}^{2n}$, several symplectic capacities, including the Ekeland-Hofer-Zehnder capacity, the displacement energy capacity, and the cylindrical capacity, are all equivalent up to an absolute constant.Comment: 12 pages, no figure