The Rotor-Routing Torsor and the Bernardi Torsor Disagree for Every Non-Planar Ribbon Graph

Let $G$ be a ribbon graph. Matthew Baker and Yao Wang proved that the rotor-routing torsor and the Bernardi torsor for $G$, which are two torsor structures on the set of spanning trees for the Picard group of $G$, coincide when $G$ is planar. We prove the conjecture raised by them that the two torsors disagree when $G$ is non-planar.

New dualities from old: generating geometric, Petrie, and Wilson dualities and trialities of ribbon graphs

We define a new ribbon group action on ribbon graphs that uses a semidirect product of a permutation group and the original ribbon group of Ellis-Monaghan and Moffatt to take (partial) twists and duals, or twuals, of ribbon graphs. A ribbon graph is a fixed point of this new ribbon group action if and only if it is isomorphic to one of its (partial) twuals. This extends the original ribbon group action, which only used the canonical identification of edges, to the more natural setting of self-twuality up to isomorphism. We then show that every ribbon graph has in its orbit an orientable embedded bouquet and prove that the (partial) twuality properties of these bouquets propagate through their orbits. Thus, we can determine (partial) twualities via these one vertex graphs, for which checking isomorphism reduces simply to checking dihedral group symmetries. Finally, we apply the new ribbon group action to generate all self-trial ribbon graphs on up to seven edges, in contrast with the few, large, very high-genus, self-trial regular maps found by Wilson, and by Jones and Poultin. We also show how the automorphism group of a ribbon graph yields self-dual, -petrial or –trial graphs in its orbit, and produce an infinite family of self-trial graphs that do not arise as covers or parallel connections of regular maps, thus answering a question of Jones and Poulton.

Hopf algebra gauge theory on a ribbon graph

We generalize gauge theory on a graph so that the gauge group becomes a finite-dimensional ribbon Hopf algebra, the graph becomes a ribbon graph, and gauge-theoretic concepts such as connections, gauge transformations and observables are replaced by linearized analogs. Starting from physical considerations, we derive an axiomatic definition of Hopf algebra gauge theory, including locality conditions under which the theory for a general ribbon graph can be assembled from local data in the neighborhood of each vertex. For a vertex neighborhood with [Formula: see text] incoming edge ends, the algebra of non-commutative ‘functions’ of connections is dual to a two-sided twist deformation of the [Formula: see text]-fold tensor power of the gauge Hopf algebra. We show these algebras assemble to give an algebra of functions and gauge-invariant subalgebra of ‘observables’ that coincide with those obtained in the combinatorial quantization of Chern–Simons theory, thus providing an axiomatic derivation of the latter. We then discuss holonomy in a Hopf algebra gauge theory and show that for semisimple Hopf algebras this gives, for each path in the embedded graph, a map from connections into the gauge Hopf algebra, depending functorially on the path. Curvatures — holonomies around the faces canonically associated to the ribbon graph — then correspond to central elements of the algebra of observables, and define a set of commuting projectors onto the subalgebra of observables on flat connections. The algebras of observables for all connections or for flat connections are topological invariants, depending only on the topology, respectively, of the punctured or closed surface canonically obtained by gluing annuli or discs along edges of the ribbon graph.

Ribbon graphs and bialgebra of Lagrangian subspaces

To each ribbon graph we assign a so-called [Formula: see text]-space, which is a Lagrangian subspace in an even-dimensional vector space with the standard symplectic form. This invariant generalizes the notion of the intersection matrix of a chord diagram. Moreover, the actions of Morse perestroikas (or taking a partial dual) and Vassiliev moves on ribbon graphs are reinterpreted nicely in the language of [Formula: see text]-spaces, becoming changes of bases in this vector space. Finally, we define a bialgebra structure on the span of [Formula: see text]-spaces, which is analogous to the 4-bialgebra structure on chord diagrams.

Evaluations of Topological Tutte Polynomials

We find new properties of the topological transition polynomial of embedded graphs, Q(G). We use these properties to explain the striking similarities between certain evaluations of Bollobás and Riordan's ribbon graph polynomial, R(G), and the topological Penrose polynomial, P(G). The general framework provided by Q(G) also leads to several other combinatorial interpretations these polynomials. In particular, we express P(G), R(G), and the Tutte polynomial, T(G), as sums of chromatic polynomials of graphs derived from G, show that these polynomials count k-valuations of medial graphs, show that R(G) counts edge 3-colourings, and reformulate the Four Colour Theorem in terms of R(G). We conclude with a reduction formula for the transition polynomial of the tensor product of two embedded graphs, showing that it leads to additional relations among these polynomials and to further combinatorial interpretations of P(G) and R(G).

Twisty itsy bitsy topological field theory

We extend the topological field theory (itsy bitsy topological field theory) of our previous work from mod 2 to twisted coefficients. This topological field theory is derived from sutured Floer homology (SFH) but described purely in terms of surfaces with signed points on their boundary (occupied surfaces) and curves on those surfaces respecting signs (sutures). It has information-theoretic (itsy) and quantum-field-theoretic (bitsy) aspects. In the process we extend some results of SFH, consider associated ribbon graph structures, and construct explicit admissible Heegaard decompositions.

ARROW RIBBON GRAPHS

We introduce an additional arrow structure on ribbon graphs. We extend the dichromatic polynomial to ribbon graphs with this structure. This extended polynomial satisfies the contraction–deletion relations and behaves naturally with respect to the partial duality of ribbon graphs. From a virtual link, we construct an arrow ribbon graph whose extended dichromatic polynomial specializes to the arrow polynomial of the virtual link recently introduced by H. Dye and L. Kauffman. This result generalizes the classical Thistlethwaite theorem to the arrow polynomial of virtual links.

On the Seifert graphs of a link diagram and its parallels

Recently, Dasbach, Futer, Kalfagianni, Lin and Stoltzfus extended the notion of a Tait graph by associating a set of ribbon graphs (or, equivalently, cellularly embedded graphs) to a link diagram. Here we focus on Seifert graphs, which are the ribbon graphs of a knot or link diagram that arise from Seifert states. We provide a characterization of Seifert graphs in terms of Eulerian subgraphs. This characterization can be viewed as a refinement of the fact that Seifert graphs are bipartite. We go on to examine the family of ribbon graphs that arises by forming the parallels of a link diagram and determine how the genus of the ribbon graph of ar-fold parallel of a link diagram is related to that of the original link diagram.