Categorification of the coefficients of the Burau representation matrix. (Q2430128)

The Burau representation of braid groups (obtained by Burau in 1936) sends the braid group \(B_n\) on \(n\) strands into the group of \(n\times n\) invertible matrices with coefficients in the ring of Laurent polynomials \(\mathbb Z[t,t^{-1}]\). This representation is reducible: it splits into the product of a 1-dimensional representation and an irreducible \((n-1)\)-representation called the reduced Burau representation. To categorify an invariant which is a Laurent polynomial with integer coefficients is to construct a homology whose graded Euler characteristic is equal to that polynomial. For instance, Khovanov homology is a categorification of the Jones polynomial. In 2001, Khovanov and Seidel performed a categorification of the Burau representation. In the paper under review, the author, following ideas of Khovanov and Seidel, performs a categorification of the coefficients of the Burau representation using elementary geometrical techniques. He shows the faithfulness of this categorification in the sense that it detects the trivial braid.