Torsion, TQFT, and Seiberg-Witten invariants of 3-manifolds (Q1811537)

\[ \begin{matrix} \tau(M^*)\zeta(F) & \overset {\text{Hutchings and Lee}} {=} & \tau(X,\phi)\\ \parallel{\text{Mark}} && \parallel {\text{Meng and Taubes}} \\ Tr (k_{\sigma})& \overset {\text{Donaldson}} {=} & \sum_{\tilde{\sigma}\in Spin^c(X)} sw(\tilde{\sigma})\end{matrix} \] \textit{G. Meng} and \textit{C. H. Taubes} [Math. Res. Lett. 3, No. 5, 661-674 (1996; Zbl 0870.57018)] showed that \(\tau (X,\phi)=\sum_{\tilde{\sigma}\in Spin^c(X)} sw(\tilde{\sigma})\) via surgery formulae, where \(\tau (X, \phi)\) is the Reidemeister torsion of a 3-manifold \(X\) with \(b_1(X)\geq 1\) associated to \(\phi\), and the sum of Seiberg-Witten invariants is over all \(Spin^c\) structures on \(X\). The identity holds if the surgery formula for Seiberg-Witten invariants is true. The proof of the surgery formula is not included in the article. \textit{M. Hutchings} and \textit{Y. J. Lee} [Topology 38, No. 4, 861-888 (1999; Zbl 0959.58015)] showed that \(\tau (M^*)\zeta(F)=\tau (X, \phi)\), where \(F\) is the return map from the gradient flow of \(\phi\), \(\zeta(F)\) is the zeta function of fixed points of iterates \(\{F^k\}_{k\geq 1}\) and \(\tau (M^*)\) is the torsion of a Morse complex of critical points of \(\phi\). \textit{S. K. Donaldson} [Geom. Topol. Monogr. 2, 87-102 (1999; Zbl 0958.57031)] showed that \(\sum_{\tilde{\sigma}\in Spin^c(X)} sw(\tilde{\sigma})=Tr (k_{\sigma})\), where \((k_{\sigma})\) is induced from cobordism and \(k_{\sigma}\in\Hom(H^*(Sym^n(S_+)), H^*(Sym^n(S_-)))\) with \(Sym^n(S_{\pm})\) moduli spaces of vortex solutions on the level sets \(S_{\pm}\) of \(\phi\). The method is novel from TQFT. The paper under review fills in the circle to prove that \(Tr (k_{\sigma}) = \tau (M^*) \zeta(F)\) via Donaldson's method mentioned above. Recall Donaldson's TQFT method. For a generic Morse function \(\phi: X \to S^1\), let \(S\) be the regular level set and \(W = X \setminus nbd(S)\) which can be viewed as a cobordism between two copies \(S_{\pm}\) of \(S\). Attaching the infinitely long tube along \(S_{\pm}\) and restricting the finite energy Seiberg-Witten functional to the extended space \(W\), the Seiberg-Witten solution on \(W\) approaches to the vortex solution on \(S_{\pm}\) with moduli spaces \(Sym^n(S_{\pm})\). Then the alternating trace \(Tr (k_{\sigma})\) on \(H^*(Sym^n(S_{\pm}))\) is identified with the sum of Seiberg-Witten invariants of \(Spin^c\) structures on \(X\). Section 5 of the paper gives explicit description of the cobordism and decomposes into a kind of standard pieces by classical Morse theory. Section 6 is devoted to compute \(\tau (M^*)\) through the standard cobordism and to compute \(Tr (k_{\sigma})\) through the standard cobordism in section 7. The basic ingredient is from multi-linear algebra (more generally, Grassmannian algebra). Then the result \(Tr (k_{\sigma}) = \tau (M^*) \zeta(F)\) follows from those computations. The author shows in section 8 that the average Seiberg-Witten invariant is the intersection number of a pair of totally real submanifolds of vortex moduli space. In section 1 to 4 reviews and statements of results are given.