Finite type invariants for knots in 3-manifolds (Q1384317)

In [Topology 33, No. 1, 45-71 (1994; Zbl 0816.57013)], \textit{X.-S. Lin} developed a theory of finite type invariants for links in simply connected 3-manifolds with \(\pi_2 = 0.\) His main technique uses a generic picture of a family of maps from a 1-dimensional polyhedron into a 3-manifold parametrized by a 2-disk. The present paper builds upon Lin's techniques to generalize his results to the context of finite type theory for knots in closed irreducible 3-manifolds. Because of the non-trivial fundamental group, the paper makes strong use of characteristic manifold techniques developed by \textit{W. H. Jaco} and \textit{P. B. Shalen} [Seifert fibered spaces in 3-manifolds, Mem. Am. Math. Soc. 220 (1979; Zbl 0415.57005)] and \textit{K. Johannson} [Homotopy equivalences of 3-manifolds with boundaries, Lect. Notes Math. 761 (1979; Zbl 0412.57007)]. The main result of the paper shows that every finite type invariant of type \(m\) in \({\mathbb R}^3\) gives rise to a finite type invariant of the same type for knots in every irreducible 3-manifold that is not one of the small Euclidean Seifert spaces, and does so within any given conjugacy class other than the identity. The proof involves studying ``integrability conditions'' for realizing a given singular knot invariant as a finite type invariant. It is also shown that the classical Alexander polynomial of a knot in a rational homology sphere is equivalent to a sequence of finite type invariants. The techniques of the paper were used by \textit{X. Lin} and the author [The HOMFLY polynomial for links in rational homology 3-spheres, Topology 38, No. 1, 95-115 (1999)] to define a power series invariant for links in rational homology spheres, which generalizes the HOMFLY polynomial.