Skein lasagna modules for 2-handlebodies (Q2151191): Difference between revisions

\textit{M. Khovanov} and \textit{L. Rozansky} defined a categorification of the Reshetikhin-Turaev \(\mathfrak{sl}_N\)-polynomial for links in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) [Fundam. Math. 199, No. 1, 1--91 (2008; Zbl:1145.57009)]. Khovanov-Rozansky \(\mathfrak{sl}_N\)-homology was originally defined only for links in \(\mathbb{R}^3\). This lack of a general definition for links in \(3\)-manifolds is in sharp contrast with similar theories, such as knot Floer homology. Morrison, Walker, and Wedrich proposed an extension of Khovanov-Rozansky homology to links in the boundaries of arbitrary oriented \(4\)-manifolds [\textit{S. Morrison} et al., ``Invariants of \(4\)-manifolds from Khovanov-Rozansky link homology'', Preprint \url{arxiv:1907.12194}]. The Morrison-Walker-Wedrich invariant of a pair \((W,L)\), where \(W\) is an oriented \(4\)-manifold and \(L\subseteq \partial W\) is a (possibly empty) framed link, is a triply-graded abelian group \[ \mathcal{S}^N(W;L) = \bigoplus_{b,i,j\in \mathbb{Z}} \mathcal{S}^N_{b,i,j} (W;L). \] When \(W\) is the \(4\)-disk \(\mathbb{D}^4\), the invariant \(\mathcal{S}^N(\mathbb{D}^4;L)\) recovers Khovanov-Rozansky \(\mathfrak{sl}_N\)-homology. Furthermore, we have \(\mathcal{S}^N_b(\mathbb{D}^4; L)= \bigoplus_{i,j\in \mathbb{Z}} \mathcal{S}^N_{b,i,j} (\mathbb{D}^4;L) = 0\) for \(b > 0\). The paper under review studies \(\mathcal{S}_0^N(W;L)\), which is called the \textit{skein lasagna module}, for \(4\)-manifolds admitting a handle decomposition without \(1\)- and \(3\)-handles. The main result in the paper is the computation of the skein lasagna module for a \(4\)-manifold (with the empty link in its boundary) obtained by attaching \(2\)-handles to \(\mathbb{D}^4\) along a framed link \(L\). More precisely, it is shown that the skein lasagna module decomposes as a direct sum of the Khovanov-Rozansky homology of (an infinite collection) of some cablings of \(L\), modulo certain relations. This result is then used to explicitly compute \(\mathcal{S}_{0}^{N}(\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{D}^2; \emptyset)\). Further applications of the main result are the computation of the skein lasagna module for boundary sums and for a \(4\)-manifold \(W\) with a local link in its boundary (i.e. a link contained in a \(3\)-ball \(B\subset \partial W\)). Finally, we point out that [\textit{C. Manolescu} et al., ``Skein lasagna modules and handle decompositions'', Preprint \url{arxiv:2206.04616}] builds on the above results and gives a procedure to express the skein lasagna module in terms of a handle decomposition.