The foam and the matrix factorization sl3 link homologies are equivalent

We prove that the foam and matrix factorization universal rational sl3 link homologies are naturally isomorphic as projective functors from the category of link and link cobordisms to the category of bigraded vector spaces.Comment: We have filled a gap in the proof of Lemma 5.2. 28 page

A note on Khovanov-Rozansky sl2sl_2-homology and ordinary Khovanov homology

In this note we present an explicit isomorphism between Khovanov-Rozansky $sl_2$-homology and ordinary Khovanov homology. This result was originally stated in Khovanov and Rozansky's paper \cite{KRI}, though the details have yet to appear in the literature. The main missing detail is providing a coherent choice of signs when identifying variables in the $sl_2$-homology. Along with the behavior of the signs and local orientations in the $sl_2$-homology, both theories behave differently when we try to extend their definitions to virtual links, which seemed to suggest that the $sl_2$-homology may instead correspond to a different variant of Khovanov homology. In this paper we describe both theories and prove that they are in fact isomorphic by showing that a coherent choice of signs can be made. In doing so we emphasize the interpretation of the $sl_2$-complex as a cube of resolutions.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. Expanded introduction and abstract. Remark added to end of section 4.

Tame Decompositions and Collisions

A univariate polynomial f over a field is decomposable if f = g o h = g(h) for nonlinear polynomials g and h. It is intuitively clear that the decomposable polynomials form a small minority among all polynomials over a finite field. The tame case, where the characteristic p of Fq does not divide n = deg f, is fairly well-understood, and we have reasonable bounds on the number of decomposables of degree n. Nevertheless, no exact formula is known if $n$ has more than two prime factors. In order to count the decomposables, one wants to know, under a suitable normalization, the number of collisions, where essentially different (g, h) yield the same f. In the tame case, Ritt's Second Theorem classifies all 2-collisions. We introduce a normal form for multi-collisions of decompositions of arbitrary length with exact description of the (non)uniqueness of the parameters. We obtain an efficiently computable formula for the exact number of such collisions at degree n over a finite field of characteristic coprime to p. This leads to an algorithm for the exact number of decomposable polynomials at degree n over a finite field Fq in the tame case

Deformations of colored sl(N) link homologies via foams

We generalize results of Lee, Gornik and Wu on the structure of deformed colored sl(N) link homologies to the case of non-generic deformations. To this end, we use foam technology to give a completely combinatorial construction of Wu's deformed colored sl(N) link homologies. By studying the underlying deformed higher representation theoretic structures and generalizing the Karoubi envelope approach of Bar-Natan and Morrison we explicitly compute the deformed invariants in terms of undeformed type A link homologies of lower rank and color.Comment: 64 pages, many figure