1 research outputs found
Instanton Floer homology and the Alexander polynomial
The instanton Floer homology of a knot in the three-sphere is a vector space
with a canonical mod 2 grading. It carries a distinguished endomorphism of even
degree,arising from the 2-dimensional homology class represented by a Seifert
surface. The Floer homology decomposes as a direct sum of the generalized
eigenspaces of this endomorphism. We show that the Euler characteristics of
these generalized eigenspaces are the coefficients of the Alexander polynomial
of the knot. Among other applications, we deduce that instanton homology
detects fibered knots.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Revised version, correcting errors concerning
mod 2 gradings in the skein sequenc