Instantons and annular Khovanov homology (Q2042021)

Annular Khovanov homology \(\mathrm{AKh}\) is a triply-graded version of Khovanov homology for framed links in a thickened annulus [\textit{M. M. Asaeda} et al., Algebr. Geom. Topol. 4, 1177--1210 (2004; Zbl 1070.57008)]. The first two degrees are the homological ad quantum degree, while the third degree is new. This homology has been shown to detect braids in the thickened annulus [\textit{J. E. Grigsby} and \textit{Y. Ni}, Math. Res. Lett. 21, No. 6, 1263--1275 (2014; Zbl 1314.57014)]. In the paper under review, the author defines an analogue of annular Khovanov homology in the context of instanton Floer homology. Namely, the annular instanton Floer homology \(AHI(L)\) of \(L\subseteq \mathbb{S}^1\times \mathbb{D}^2 = T_1\), which is defined as \[ I(\mathbb{S}^1\times \mathbb{S}^2 = T_1 \cup T_2, L \cup K_2, u), \] where \(K_2 = \mathbb{S}^1\times \{ p, q\} \subseteq \mathbb{S}^1\times \mathbb{D}^2 = T_2\), \(T_1\) and \(T_2\) are glued in the natural way, \(u\) is a segment joining the two components of \(K_2\), and \(I(Y,K,\omega)\) denotes the instanton homology of the triple \((Y,K,\omega)\). There is a rich theory of spectral sequences from Khovanov-type theories to Floer-theoretic homologies. One of the most important examples of these spectral sequences is due to \textit{P. B. Kronheimer} and \textit{T. S. Mrowka} [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 113, 97--208 (2011; Zbl 1241.57017)]. This is a spectral sequence from the reduced Khovanov homology \(\mathrm{Khr} (K)\) abutting to the singular instanton Floer homology of the mirror \(\mathrm{I}^{\sharp}(\overline{K})\). An application of this spectral sequence is the unknot detection property of Khovanov homology (the corresponding question for the Jones polynomial is still open). One of the principal results in the paper under review is the existence of a similar spectral sequence, preserving the third degree, starting from the (reduced) annular Khovanov homology and abutting to the annular instanton Floer homology. The two main applications of this spectral sequence are: an unlink detection property in the thickened annulus for annular Khovanov homology, and an alternative proof of the braid-detection property of annular Khovanov homology. Another notable result contained in the paper is Theorem 1.4, where a (spectral) sequence from the reduced \emph{coloured} Khovanov homology of a knot \(\overline{K}\) to the reduced singular instanton homology of \(K\) is shown to exist (this generalises Kronheimer and Mrowka's spectral sequence).