Knot Weight Systems from Graded Symplectic Geometry

Abstract

We show that from an even degree symplectic NQ-manifold, whose homological vector field Q preserves the symplectic form, one can construct a weight system for tri-valent graphs with values in the Q-cohomology ring, satisfying the IHX relation. Likewise, given a representation of the homological vector field, one can construct a weight system for the chord diagrams, satisfying the IHX and STU relations. Moreover we show that the use of the 'Gronthendieck connection' in the construction is essential in making the weight system dependent only on the choice of the NQ-manifold and its representation.Comment: 26 pages, revised versio