Kauffman states and Heegaard diagrams for tangles (Q2279057)

In this paper, the author adapts Kauffman's combinatorial construction of the Alexander polynomial of links to tangles. He obtains a finite set of Laurent polynomials which satisfy basic properties similar to those of the Conway potential function. In particular, the symmetry relations and the gluing formula for these tangle invariants imply that the multivariable Alexander polynomial is invariant under Conway mutation. Furthermore, as it is the case for the Alexander polynomials for links, the author gives a Heegard Floer theoretic categorification of these invariants by recovering them as the graded Euler characteristic of some homological invariants.