Flags and tangles (Q2247191)

The main result of the paper is a proof of equivalence of two braided monoidal categories, exhibited by an explicit monoidal functor \(\Phi:{\mathcal S}|_q\to{\mathcal H}\) between them. The category \(\mathcal{S}\) is a braided monoidal category of graded Legendrian tangles. More precisely, its objects are finite \(\mathbb{Z}\)-graded subsets of \(\mathbb{R}\). The set of morphisms between two objects is considered as an \(R={\mathbb{Z}}[q^{\pm1},(q-1)^{-1}]\) module generated by isotopy classes of Legendrian curves in \([0,1]\times{\mathbb{R}}^2\) with grading (Maslov potential) whose boundary matches the source and target objects, modulo three local (skein) relations. Specializing to a prime power value \(q\) and considering the evaluation homomorphism \(R\to\mathbb{Q}\) realises a braided monoidal category \(\mathcal{S}|_q\) over \(\mathbb{Q}\). The category \(\mathcal{H}\) is defined from a choice of fixed finite field \(k=\mathbb{F}_q\), where \(q\) is a prime power. Objects are finite-dimensional \(\mathbb{Z}\)-graded vector spaces over \(k\) together with a complete flag of graded subspaces. The space of morphisms \(Hom_{\mathcal{H}}(V,W)\) between two objects, is the set of rational linear combinations of triples \((d_V,f,d_W)\) where \(d_V\), \(d_W\) are differentials (of degree \(-1\)) on \(V\), \(W\) respectively, and \(f:V\to{}W\) is a quasi-isomorphism. The result can be considered analogous, in the setting of \(\mathbb{Z}\)-graded chain complexes of vector spaces as opposed to vector spaces, to the result of \textit{V. G. Turaev} [Math. USSR, Izv. 35, No. 2, 411--444 (1990; Zbl 0707.57003); translation from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 53, No. 5, 1073--1107 (1989)] where he defined a Hecke category and identified certain Hom spaces with the classical \(A_n\)-type Iwahori-Hecke algebra. Objects in the Hecke category were finite strings of signs while morphisms were generated by classical oriented tangles (whose boundary matched the source and target orientations) modulo the Jones-Conway skein relation. The \(\mathbb{Z}\)-grading appears in the current setting when replacing classical tangles by Legendrian tangles, from the Maslov potential on Legendrian curves.