Syzygies among elementary string interactions in 2+1 dimensions (Q1184561)

The elementary string interactions are the Reidemeister moves, birth/death, and fusion/fission. Such interactions have as their trace generically mapped surfaces, and these combine to form knotted surfaces in 4-space. The syzygies among these interactions are moves to such surfaces analogous to the Reidemeister moves for knots. `Movie' parametrizations of these syzygies are given and interpreted in dimension \(2+2\). A Morse theoretic argument shows there are 15 such movie moves. These moves, with appropriate choices of crossing information, are sufficient to construct any isotopy of an embedded surface on which a height function has been specified. The first seven of the movie moves are parametrized versions of those given by Roseman. The remaining eight are moves of \(\Delta\)-type. Amplitudes assigned to these interactions must satisfy relations that correspond to the movie moves. One such relation is a Zamolodchikov tetrahedral equation. We present some puzzles about the matrix formulations of these amplitudes.