A Casson-Lin type invariant for links

We define an integer valued invariant for two-component links in S^3 by counting projective SU(2) representations of the link group having non-trivial second Stiefel-Whitney class. We show that our invariant is, up to sign, the linking number of the link. Our construction generalizes that of X.-S. Lin who defined a similar invariant for knots in S^3; his invariant equals half the knot signature.Comment: New set of generators for the braid group in Section

Instanton Floer homology for two-component links

For any link of two components in an integral homology sphere, we define an instanton Floer homology whose Euler characteristic is the linking number between the components of the link. We relate this Floer homology to the Kronheimer-Mrowka instanton Floer homology of knots. We also show that, for two-component links in the 3-sphere, the Floer homology does not vanish unless the link is split.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; updated to clarify relation to the Kronheimer-Mrowka KHI theor

Rohlin's invariant and gauge theory, I. Homology 3-tori

This is the first in a series of papers exploring the relationship between the Rohlin invariant and gauge theory. We discuss the Casson-type invariant of a 3-manifold with the integral homology of a torus, given by counting projectively flat connections. We show that its mod 2 evaluation is given by the triple cup product in cohomology, and so it coincides with a sum of Rohlin invariants. Our counting argument makes use of a natural action of the first cohomology on the moduli space of projectively flat connections; along the way we construct perturbations that are equivariant with respect to this action. Combined with the Floer exact triangle, this gives a purely gauge-theoretic proof that Casson's homology sphere invariant reduces mod 2 to the Rohlin invariant.Comment: Changed title to fit with succeeding papers in series. Added reference to Turaev's wor

Casson-type invariants from the Seiberg-Witten equations

This is a survey of our recent work with Tom Mrowka on Seiberg-Witten gauge theory and index theory for manifolds with periodic ends. We explain how this work leads to a new invariant, which is related to the classical Rohlin invariant of homology 3-spheres and to the Furuta-Ohta invariant originating in Yang-Mills gauge theory. We give some new calculations of our invariant for 4-dimensional mapping tori.Comment: Slightly expanded exposition; to appear in volume "New Ideas in Low-Dimensional Topology", edited by L. Kauffman and V. Manturo

Link homology and equivariant gauge theory

The singular instanton Floer homology was defined by Kronheimer and Mrowka in connection with their proof that the Khovanov homology is an unknot detector. We study this theory for knots and two-component links using equivariant gauge theory on their double branched covers. We show that the special generator in the singular instanton Floer homology of a knot is graded by the knot signature mod 4, thereby providing a purely topological way of fixing the absolute grading in the theory. Our approach also results in explicit computations of the generators and gradings of the singular instanton Floer chain complex for several classes of knots with simple double branched covers, such as two-bridge knots, torus knots, and Montesinos knots, as well as for several families of two-components links.Comment: 59 pages. Corrected a grading error in Lemma 2.5, which affected calculations for some of the knot

Rohlin's invariant and gauge theory II. Mapping tori

This is the second in a series of papers studying the relationship between Rohlin's theorem and gauge theory. We discuss an invariant of a homology S^1 cross S^3 defined by Furuta and Ohta as an analogue of Casson's invariant for homology 3-spheres. Our main result is a calculation of the Furuta-Ohta invariant for the mapping torus of a finite-order diffeomorphism of a homology sphere. The answer is the equivariant Casson invariant (Collin-Saveliev 2001) if the action has fixed points, and a version of the Boyer-Nicas (1990) invariant if the action is free. We deduce, for finite-order mapping tori, the conjecture of Furuta and Ohta that their invariant reduces mod 2 to the Rohlin invariant of a manifold carrying a generator of the third homology group. Under some transversality assumptions, we show that the Furuta-Ohta invariant coincides with the Lefschetz number of the action on Floer homology. Comparing our two answers yields an example of a diffeomorphism acting trivially on the representation variety but non-trivially on Floer homology.Comment: Published by Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol8/paper2.abs.htm

On the deleted squares of lens spaces

The configuration space $F_2 (M)$ of ordered pairs of distinct points in a manifold $M$, also known as the deleted square of $M$, is not a homotopy invariant of $M$: Longoni and Salvatore produced examples of homotopy equivalent lens spaces $M$ and $N$ of dimension three for which $F_2 (M)$ and $F_2 (N)$ are not homotopy equivalent. In this paper, we study the natural question whether two arbitrary $3$-dimensional lens spaces $M$ and $N$ must be homeomorphic in order for $F_2 (M)$ and $F_2 (N)$ to be homotopy equivalent. Among our tools are the Cheeger--Simons differential characters of deleted squares and the Massey products of their universal covers.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure