Homotopical interpretation of link invariants from finite quandles (Q492230)

A \textit{rack} is a set \(X\) equipped with a binary operation \(\triangleleft : X \times X \to X\) such that the map \((\bullet \triangleleft a) : X \to X\) defined by \(x \mapsto x \triangleleft a\) is bijective for any \(a \in X\); \((a\triangleleft b)\triangleleft c=(a\triangleleft c)\triangleleft(b\triangleleft c)\) for any \(a, b, c \in X\). A \textit{quandle} is a rack \(X\) with a binary operation \(\triangleleft\) satisfying that \(a\triangleleft a=a\) for any \(a\in X\). For a quandle \(X\), the author in [Topology Appl. 158, No. 8, 996--1011 (2011; Zbl 1227.57020)] defined the quandle space \(BX\) and the quandle homotopy invariant \(\Xi_X(L)\) of a link \(L\) by modifying the rack space and the rack homotopy invariant, respectively, introduced in [\textit{R. Fenn} et al., Appl. Categ. Struct. 3, No. 4, 321--356 (1995; Zbl 0853.55021)] (When \(X\) is a finite quandle, \(BX\) is a path connected CW complex and \({\Xi}_X(L)\) is valued in \(\mathbb{Z}[\pi_2(BX)]\)), and showed that the quandle cocycle invariants due to [\textit{J. S. Carter} et al., Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 355, No. 10, 3947--3989 (2003; Zbl 1028.57003)], \textit{J. S. Carter, S. Kamada} and \textit{M. Saito}, J. Knot Theory Ramifications 10, No. 3, 345--386 (2001; Zbl 1002.57019)] can be derived from this quandle homotopy invariant. The paper under review demonstrates a topological meaning of quandle cocycle invariants of links in the light of homotopy theory centered on the quandle space \(BX\). A quandle \(X\) is \textit{connected} if any \(x, y\in X\) admit some \(a_1,\ldots, a_n \in X\) such that \((\cdots(x\triangleleft a_1)\triangleleft \cdots)\triangleleft a_n=y\). The \textit{type \(t_X\)} of \(X\) is the minimal \(N\) such that \(x =(\cdots(x\triangleleft y)\triangleleft \cdots)\triangleleft y\) (\(N\)-times on the right with \(y\)) for any \(x, y\in X\). The main result is as follows: Let \(X\) be a finite connected quandle of type \(t_X\) and let \({\mathcal H}_X:\pi_2(BX) \to H_2(BX; \mathbb{Z})\) be the Hurewicz map as usual in topology. Then there is a homomorphism \(\Theta_X\) from \(\pi_2(BX)\) to the third group homology \(H^{gr}_3(\pi_1(BX); \mathbb{Z})\) for which the map (called the TH-map) \[ \Theta_X \oplus {\mathcal H}_X : \pi_2(BX) \rightarrow H^{\text{gr}}_3(\pi_1(BX); \mathbb{Z}) \oplus H_2(BX; \mathbb Z) \] is an isomorphism after localization at \(\ell \in \mathbb{Z}\), where \(\ell\) is relatively prime to \(t_X\). This result implies that for any link \(L \subset S^3\), the homotopy invariant \(\Xi_X(L) \in \mathbb{Z}[\pi_2(BX)]\) can be expressed as the sum of two invariants via the \(TH\)-map \(\Theta_X \oplus {\mathcal H}_X\): a ``\(\mathbb{Z}\)-equivariant part'' of the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariant of \(\widehat{C}^{t_X}_L\) [\textit{R. Dijkgraaf} and \textit{E. Witten}, Commun. Math. Phys. 129, No. 2, 393--429 (1990; Zbl 0703.58011)] and the original quandle 2-cycle invariant in \(\mathbb{Z}[H_2(BX)]\), [\textit{J. S. Carter} et al., op. cit.], where \(\widehat{C}^{t_X}_L\) is the \(t_X\)-fold cyclic covering space of \(S^3\) branched over the link \(L\). In conclusion, via the \(TH\)-map, the homotopy invariant \(\Xi_X(L)\) without \(t_X\)-torsion is reduced to the two topological invariants. Further, the author discusses applications of computing some third homology groups and second homotopy groups of the quandle spaces for several quandles from results of group cohomology.