Vassiliev invariants of braids and iterated integrals (Q2707467)

The main point of this paper is to clarify the relationship between Vassiliev invariants of braids and the iterated integrals of logarithmic forms on the configuration space \(X_n\) of \(n\) distinct points in the complex plane that are homotopy invariant. Let \(B_n\) be the braid group on \(n\) strings and \(\{\sigma_i\}_{1 \leq i \leq n-1}\) be the set of standard generators of \(B_n\). Note that the vector space \({\mathcal V}_k(B_n)\) of Vassiliev invariants of \(B_n\) of order \(k\) with values in \(\mathbb{C}\) can be identified with \(\text{Hom}_{\mathbb{C}}(\mathbb{C}[B_n]/J^{k+1},\mathbb{C})\), where \(J\) denotes the ideal of the group ring \(\mathbb{C}[B_n]\) generated by the set \(\{\sigma_i - \sigma_i^{-1}\}_{1 \leq i \leq n-1}\). A graded algebra \(\widetilde{\mathcal A}_n\) is introduced that is a semi-direct product of the completed universal enveloping algebra of the holonomy Lie algebra of \(X_n\) with the group algebra \(\mathbb{C}[S_n]\) of the symmetric group. Denoting the degree \(p\) part of \(\widetilde{\mathcal A}_n\) by \(\widetilde{\mathcal A}_n^p\), it is shown that \({\mathcal V}_k(B_n)\) and \(\text{Hom}_{\mathbb{C}}(\bigoplus_{p \leq k}\widetilde{\mathcal A}_n^p,\mathbb{C})\) are isomorphic. The basic ingredient in the proof of this fact is the construction of a homomorphism \(\theta: B_n \to \widetilde{\mathcal A}_n\) that is expressed as an infinite sum of Chen's iterated integrals and which is used to determine all iterated integrals of logarithmic forms that provide invariants of braids. As a corollary, an isomorphism between \(\widetilde{\mathcal A}_n\) and \(\varprojlim \mathbb{C}[B_n]/J^i\) that also follows from Chen's theory is obtained.NEWLINENEWLINEFor the entire collection see [Zbl 0952.00034].