Strings, fermions and the topology of curves on annuli (Q1689655)

In a previous paper with \textit{E. Schoenfeld} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 15, No. 2, 691--731 (2015; Zbl 1330.57026)] the author defined a new type of homology for a marked surface \((\Sigma,F)\) generated over \(\mathbb Z_2\) by homotopy classes of string diagrams, with a boundary operator defined by resolving crossings. In that paper the authors computed their ``string homology'' \(\widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F)\) for the disk \(\Sigma = D^2\). In this paper the author studies the string homology \(\widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F)\) when \(\Sigma\) is equal to an annulus \(\mathbb A\). The homology is computed in terms of generators and relations for some markings \(F\), but in other cases the homology is only described in terms of the homology associated to two marked points on each boundary of \(\mathbb A\). A \textit{marked surface} \((\Sigma,F)\) is a compact oriented surface \(\Sigma\) with a non-empty boundary \(\partial \Sigma\) and a finite set \(F \subset \partial \Sigma\) of marked points with sign. A \textit{string diagram} is a collection of oriented homotopy classes of curves on \(\Sigma\), either closed or with endpoints in \(F\), where the orientations are consistent with the signs of the marked points. In the earlier paper referenced above, the authors defined a vector space \(\widehat{CS}(\Sigma,F)\) generated by the string diagrams in \((\Sigma,F)\). They also defined a boundary operator \(\partial\) on \(\widehat{CS}(\Sigma,F)\) by resolving intersections (see Figure 1 in the paper), which determines their ``string homology'' \(\widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F)\). A marked surface is called \textit{alternating} if the signs of the marked points alternate around each boundary component. The first main result in this paper extends an earlier result on the disk \(D^2\) to the annulus \(\mathbb A\) Theorem 1.1. Let \((\mathbb A,F)\) be a weakly marked annulus which is not alternating. Then \(\widehat{HS}(\mathbb A,F) = 0\). The second main result in the paper computes the string homology of an annulus with no marked points. Let \(x_k\) denote a string that runs \(k\) times around the core of the annulus \(\mathbb A\). Theorem 1.2. The homology \(\widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},\emptyset)\) is generated as a \(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-algebra by the homology classes \(\bar{x}_k\) of \(x_k\), over all odd integers \(k\), subject to the relation that each \(\bar{x}^2_k = 0\). That is, \[ \widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},\emptyset) = \frac{\mathbb{Z}_2[\dots, \bar{x}_{-3},\bar{x}_{-1},\bar{x}_1, \bar{x}_3,\ldots]}{(\dots, \bar{x}_{-3}^2,\bar{x}_{-1}^2,\bar{x}_1^2,\bar{x}_3^2,\dots)}. \] The author calls this algebra a ``fermionic polynomial'' algebra and denotes it by \(H(\mathcal{X})\). An alternating marking with exactly two points on the same boundary component is denoted \(F_{0,2}\), and the author proves the following. Theorem 1.4. The homology \(\widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{0,2})\), as an \(H(\mathcal{X})\)-module, is given by \[ \widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{0,2}) \cong \bar{x}_1 H(\mathcal{X}) \oplus \bar{x}_{-1}H(\mathcal{X}) \] \[ \cong \bar{x}_1 \frac{\mathbb{Z}_2[\ldots, \bar{x}_{-3},\bar{x}_{-1},\bar{x}_1, \bar{x}_3,\ldots]}{(\ldots, \bar{x}_{-3}^2,\bar{x}_{-1}^2,\bar{x}_1^2,\bar{x}_3^2,\ldots)} \oplus \bar{x}_{-1} \frac{\mathbb{Z}_2[\ldots, \bar{x}_{-3},\bar{x}_{-1},\bar{x}_1, \bar{x}_3,\ldots]}{(\ldots, \bar{x}_{-3}^2,\bar{x}_{-1}^2,\bar{x}_1^2,\bar{x}_3^2,\ldots)}. \] The most difficult case studied in the paper is an annulus with four alternating marked points, two on each boundary component \((\mathbb{A},F_{2,2})\). Theorem 1.5 in the paper gives a partial description of \(\widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{2,2})\), but the author does not give an explicit description in terms of generators and relations. Additional results in the paper are all given in terms of \(H(\mathcal{X})\) and \(\widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{2,2})\). Specifically, the author proves the following results, where \(F_{2m,2n}\) denotes an alternating marking with \(2m\) points on one boundary component of \(\mathbb{A}\) and \(2n\) points on the other boundary component. Theorem 1.6. Let \((\Sigma,F)\) be an alternating marked surface and suppose \(F'\) is an alternating marking obtained from \(F\) by adding two marked points on a boundary component already containing marked points. Then \[ \widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F') \cong (\mathbb{Z}_2 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_2) \otimes_{\mathbb{Z}_2} \widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F). \] Theorem 1.7. 1) If \(n \geq 0\) then \[ \widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{0,2n+2}) \cong (\mathbb{Z}_2 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_2)^{\otimes n} \otimes_{\mathbb{Z}_2} (\bar{x}_1H(\mathcal{X}) \oplus \bar{x}_{-1}H(\mathcal{X})). \] 2) If \(m,n \geq 0\) then \[ \widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{2m+2,2n+2}) \cong (\mathbb{Z}_2 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_2)^{\otimes (m+n)} \otimes_{\mathbb{Z}_2} \widehat{HS}(\mathbb{A},F_{2,2}). \] The author also discusses relationships between the ``string homology'' computed in this paper and certain Floer-theoretic invariants. In particular, in the introduction the author says the following: ``The constructions of this paper, therefore, give an algebraic object with an elementary definition, based on curves on surfaces and their intersections, but which may contain strictly more information than Floer-theoretic invariants of corresponding 3-manifolds. The above remarks suggest that some subspace, or quotient, of \(\widehat{HS}(\Sigma,F)\) may be isomorphic to the corresponding sutured Floer homology, or Grothendieck group of ``sutures modulo bypass triples''. They also suggest potential ``higher order structure'' which may be found in sutured Floer homology, or the equivalent Floer-theoretic invariant of embedded contact homology, or contact categories.''