A rationality conjecture about Kontsevich integral of knots and its implications to the structure of the colored Jones polynomial (Q1868885)

Let \(Z(K)\in\mathcal{B}\) be the Kontsevich integral of a knot \(K\), where \(\mathcal{B}\) is the vector space over \(\mathbb{C}\) spanned by Jacobi diagrams (uni-trivalent graphs) with cyclic orientation for each vertex, modulo AS and IHX relations. (More precisely, we consider the inverse image by the Poincaré--Birkhoff--Witt map \(\mathcal{B}\to\mathcal{A}(S^{1})\) where \(\mathcal{A}(S^{1})\) is spanned by Jacobi diagrams based on the circle.) In the paper under review the author proposes the rationality conjecture for \(Z(K)\) as follows. If we expand the logarithm (with respect to the product defined by disjoint union) of \(Z(K)\) in terms of the number of loops, then each term is an infinite sum of uni-trivalent graphs with uni-trivalent edges attached to a fixed trivalent graph. The rationality conjecture states that such a term corresponding to a fixed trivalent graph can be expressed by rational functions attached to its edges. Here an edge with a rational function of \(t=\exp f\) means an infinite sum of uni-trivalent graphs obtained by replacing \(f^m\) with \(m\) uni-trivalent edges attached to the edge. Moreover the denominator of each rational function is a power of the Alexander polynomial of \(K\). The conjecture is proved by \textit{A. Kricker} [The lines of the Kontsevich integral and Rozansky's rationality conjecture, arXiv:math.GT/0005284]. As a corollary to the conjecture the author proves the rationality of quantum invariants of knots, generalizing the Melvin--Morton--Rozansky conjecture proved by \textit{D. Bar-Natan} and \textit{S. Garoufalidis} [Invent. Math. 125, 103-133 (1996; Zbl 0855.57004)].