Braid monodromy, orderings and transverse invariants (Q1631710)

Elements of the Artin braid group \(B_m\), braids on \(m\) strands, are braid words on standard generators \(\sigma_1,\dots,\sigma_{m-1}\). Braids are drawn from left to right, and braid closures are considered as closed braids around the \(z\)-axis in \(\mathbb R^3\) which correspond to conjugacy classes in \(B_m\). In the contact manifold \((\mathbb R^3,\xi_{\text{std}})\), where the standard contact structure is \(\xi_{\text{std}}=\ker(dz+r2d\varphi)\), closed braids around the \(z\)-axis naturally give rise to transverse links. Two braids that produce transversely isotopic links are related by braid isotopies and positive Markov stabilization and destabilization moves. Positive Markov stabilization of a braid \(\beta\in B_m\) gives the braid \(\beta\sigma_m\in B_{m+1}\) which means adding an extra strand and a positive crossing to the given closed braid. Negative Markov stabilization of \(\beta\) gives the braid \(\beta\sigma^{-1}_m\) which is not transversely isotopic to \(\beta\). When considering the transverse links corresponding to braids, negative Markov stabilization is called transverse stabilization. A basic invariant of transverse links, the self-linking number, is given by \(\text{sl}=\#\{\text{positive crossings}\}-\#\{\text{negative crossings}\}-(\text{braid index})\). The braid group \(B_m\) is naturally identified with the mapping class group of a disk \(D\) with the set \(Q\) of \(m\) marked points. A braid \(\beta\in B_m\) is said to be right-veering if for any arc \(a\) in \((D,Q)\), the arc \(\beta(a)\) is either isotopic to \(a\) or lies to the right of \(a\). A grid diagram is an \(n\times n\) square grid, marked with \(X\)'s and \(O\)'s so that there is exactly one \(X\) and exactly one \(O\) in each row and each column. A grid diagram gives rise to a braid. In [Geom. Topol. 12, No. 2, 941--980 (2008; Zbl 1144.57012)], \textit{P. Ozsváth, Z. Szabó}, and \textit{D. Thurston} introduced the transverse invariant \(\hat\theta\) in Heegaard Floer homology which starts by representing the transverse link \(K\) in \(S^3\) as a push-off of a Legendrian link that can be put on a grid. The corresponding grid diagram is used to define the transverse invariant as the class of the cycle given the upper-right corners of the \(X\)'s. The transverse invariant \(\psi\) in Khovanov homology was introduced in [Math. Res. Lett. 13, No. 4, 571--586 (2006; Zbl 1143.57006)] by the present author. To define \(\psi(K)\) for a braid representative of a transverse link \(K\), one considers the oriented braid resolution, and then takes the cycle which is the lowest quantum grading element in the component of the Khovanov chain complex corresponding to this resolution. The resulting homology class \(\psi(K)\) is independent of the choice of the braid representative of \(K\). If \(K\) is a transverse link in \((S^3,\xi_{\text{std}})\), then \(K\) is said to be right-veering if every braid representative of \(K\) is a right-veering braid. In this paper, the author studies the effect of the dynamical properties of the monodromy of \(\beta\), such as right-veering, on the contact-topological properties of \(K\) and the values of transverse invariants in Heegaard Floer and Khovanov homologies. Using grid diagrams and the structure of Dehornoy's braid ordering, it is shown that \(\hat{\theta}(K) \in \widehat{\text{HFK}}(m(K))\) is nonzero whenever \(\beta\) has fractional Dehn twist coefficient \(C>1\), and if \(K\) is a transverse 3-braid, then \(K\) is right-veering if and only if \(\hat\theta(K)\neq 0\). Also, the author proves that if \(K\) is a non-right-veering transverse knot, then (i) \(\text{sl}(K)<s-1\), \(\text{sl}(K)<2\tau-1\), and \(\text{sl}(K)\leq s(K)-1\), (ii) the branched double cover \((\Sigma(K),\xi_K)\) is overtwisted, where \(\tau\) and \(s\) are Ozsváth-Szabó and Rasmussen's concordance invariants, respectively.