Braids and invariants of 3-manifolds (Q1319218)

It is shown that multiplicative invariants of closed 3-manifolds correspond to special trace functionals on the infinite ribbon braid group in the same way as link invariants correspond to special traces on the infinite braid group. The invariants of 3-manifolds are obtained as a ``thermodynamical'' limit of cablings of invariants of framed links. Applications to special versions of the Jones polynomial and its generalizations are considered. The spectral decomposition of a full twist in the corresponding representation of the ribbon braid group and a proof of a periodicity phenomenon are also obtained. Connections with other approaches and computability questions are discussed.