A perturbation of the geometric spectral sequence in Khovanov homology (Q2406854)

Let \(\mathbb{F}\) be the field with two elements. Given a link diagram \(D\), the authors construct a bigraded chain complex \(C_{tot}(D)\) over the polynomial ring \(\mathbb{F}[H,W]\) such that setting \(W=0\) recovers Bar-Natan's perturbation of Khovanov homology [\textit{D. Bar-Natan}, Geom. Topol. 9, 1443--1499 (2005; Zbl 1084.57011)] while setting \(H=0\) recovers the construction of \textit{Z. Szabó} [J. Topol. 8, No. 4, 1017--1044 (2015; Zbl 1344.57008)]. The chain homotopy type is then shown to be a link invariant. Furthermore, inverting \(H\) leads to the homology being isomorphic to \(2^l\) copies of \(\mathbb{F}[H,H^{-1},W]\), where \(l\) is the number of components of the link. This is then used to define \(s\)-invariants giving lower bounds to the four-ball genus of a knot, in the spirit of Rasmussen's \(s\)-invariant. In theory these new invariants need not agree with the Rasmussen invariant, that is, a chain complex is constructed where they differ. Whether this can be realized by a knot remains an open question.