Categorification: tangle invariants and TQFTs (Q6198723)

Topological Quantum Field Theories are a study of an interaction between mathematics and physics. A first mathematical formulation of TQFTs traces back to Atiyah, influenced by Segal and Witten. Based on different views on the Jones polynomial, the author reviews representation-theoretic categorified link and tangle invariants. She unifies them in a common combinatorial framework and connect them through the theory of Soergel bimodules. The influence of these categorifications on the development of 2-representation theory and the interaction between topological invariants and 2-categorical structures is discussed. Finally, the author indicates how categorified representations of quantum groups, on the one hand, and monoidal 2-categories of Soergel bimodules, on the other hand, might lead to new interesting 4-dimensional TQFTs. For the entire collection see [Zbl 07816356].