Milnor numbers, spanning trees, and the Alexander-Conway polynomial. (Q1421392)

Let \(\nabla_{L}(z)=\sum_{i\geq0}c_{i}(L)z^{i}\) be the Alexander-Conway polynomial of an oriented link \(L\) in the three-sphere. It is well-known that \(c_{i}(L)\) vanishes for \(i\leq{m-2}\) if \(L\) has \(m\) components and that \(c_{m-1}(L)\) can be calculated as the determinant of a symmetric matrix defined by using the linking numbers \(\ell_{ij}(L)\) [\textit{F. Hosokawa}, Osaka Math. J. 10, 273--282 (1958; Zbl 0105.17404); \textit{R. Hartley}, Comment. Math. Helv. 58, 365--378 (1983; Zbl 0539.57003); \textit{J. Hoste}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 95, 299--302 (1985; Zbl 0576.57005)]. The Milnor triple linking number \(\mu_{ijk}(L)\in\mathbb{Z}\) is defined for an algebraically split link (a link with all linking numbers vanishing), which is antisymmetric with respect to \(i\), \(j\) and \(k\). For algebraically split links \(L\), \(c_{i}(L)\) vanishes for \(i\leq{2m-3}\), and J.~Levine obtained a formula that expresses \(c_{2m-2}\) as the determinant of a skew-symmetric matrix defined by \(\mu_{ijk}\) [\textit{J. Levine}, Suzuki, S. (ed.), KNOTS'96. Proceedings of the international conference and workshop on knot theory, Tokyo, Japan, July 22--26, 1996. Singapore: World Scientific. 23--29 (1997; Zbl 0963.57005)]. The aim of the paper under review is to generalize these results. The Milnor invariant \(\mu_{i_{1}i_{2}{\dots} i_{k}}\in\mathbb{Z}\) of degree \(k-1\) is defined when the invariants of lower degrees all vanish. (The degree one invariants are \(\ell_{ij}\) and if they all vanish, i.e., the link is algebraically split, the degree two invariants \(\mu_{ijk}\) are defined, and so on.) It is known that a Milnor invariant of degree \(k\) is a finite type invariant of degree \(k\), and so it can be expressed by using the Kontsevich integral. The corresponding Jacobi diagram is called the universal Milnor invariant. The Kirchhoff polynomial (or the spanning-trees generating function) \({\mathcal D}_{m}:=\sum_{T}x_{T}\) of the complete graph \(K_{m}\) with \(m\) vertices is a polynomial in variables \(x_{ij}\) (\(=x_{ji}\)) corresponding to the edges in \(K_{m}\), where the monomials \(x_{T}:=\prod_{e\in T}x_{e}\) correspond to the maximal (spanning) trees in \(K_{m}\). The Pfaffian-tree polynomial \({\mathcal P}_{m}\) is also defined similarly by using the complete three-graph with \(m\) vertices as follows. An edge in the complete three-graph has three vertices and is Y-shaped. The variables \(y_{ijk}\) are antisymmetric with respect to \(i\), \(j\) and \(k\), and correspond to Y-shaped edges. If \(m\) is even, \({\mathcal P}_{m}\) is defined to be zero. If \(m\) is odd, \({\mathcal P}_{m}= \prod_{T}\varepsilon(T) y_{T}\), where \(T\) runs over all collections of Y-shaped edges whose union is a tree, \(y_{T}\) is the product of \(y_{ijk}\) corresponding to the Y-shaped edges in \(Y\), and \(\varepsilon(T)=\pm1\). Now the main result is as follows. Let \(L\) be an \(m\)-component link with all the Milnor invariants of degrees less than \(n\) vanishing. Then \(c_{i}(L)=0\) for \(i<n(m-1)\) and \(c_{n(m-1)}(L)\) is \({\mathcal D}_ m(\ell^{(n)}_{ij} (L))\) if \(n\) is odd, and \(\{{\mathcal P}_{m} (\mu^{(n)}_{ijk}(L))\}^{2}\) if \(n\) is even. Here \(\ell^{(n)}_{ij}(L)\) (\(\mu^{(n)} _{ijk}(L)\), respectively) is defined by using the universal Milnor invariant of degree \(n\) by resolving the Jacobi diagram into simple chords (Y-shaped chords, respectively). Note that when \(n=2\), this gives another (much simpler) formula for \(c_{2m-2}\).