Grope cobordism and Feynman diagrams (Q1423611)

Gropes are certain 2-complexes whose complexity can be measured by either the class (corresponding to nilpotent groups) or height (corresponding to solvable groups). The analogy with group theory arises by observing that a continuous map of the circle represents a commutator in the fundamental group if and only if it extends to a surface, and thus it will represent an element in the \(k\)th term of the lower central series (respectively derived series) if and only if it extends to a continuous map of a grope of class \(k\). The authors place this in the context of knot theory, where continuous maps are replaced by embeddings. As such, two knots are called equivalent if they cobound an embedded grope (of a specified class or height). It has been shown in previous work of the authors that \({\mathcal K}/G_k\), the abelian monoid of knot types modulo grope cobordism of class \(k\), is a finitely generated abelian group for all \(k\). In the present paper it is shown that there is an epimorphism \({\mathcal B}^g_{<k}\rightarrow {\mathcal K}/G_k,\) where \({\mathcal B}_{<k}^g\) is the abelian group generated by uni-trivalent graphs of grope degree \(i<k\), where the grope degree is the Vassiliev invariant plus the first Betti number. After tensoring with rational numbers this becomes an isomorphism with inverse provided by the Kontsevich integral. However, class is not useful when passing to four dimensions, as the authors show that only the Arf invariant survives. In this setting it turns out that symmetric grope concordance is the correct invariant to work with. This invariant has been studied in previous work of the second author with Cochran and Orr. In this situation, grope cobordisms are classified by trees. The authors prove a result that shows what kind of concordance invariants correspond to certain simple trees. The paper concludes with three results. The first shows that if a knot \(K\) bounds an embedded grope of class \(k\) in a \(3\)-manifold \(M\), then the pair \((M,K)\) is \((k-3)\)-null equivalent to \((M,U)\), where \(U\) is the unknot. The second shows that \(K\) is congruent to \((-1)^k\rho(K)\) modulo \(G_{k+1}\), where \(\rho(K)\) is the knot obtained by reversing the orientation of \(K\). Finally, it is shown that a simple clasper surgery of grope degree \((k+1)\) may be realized by a sequence of simple clasper surgeries of grope degree \(k\).