Instantons and Khovanov homology in \(\mathbb{RP}^3\) (Q6971245)

This paper establishes a spectral sequence connection between Khovanov homology and instanton Floer homology in the three-dimensional real projective space \(\mathbb{RP}^3\), demonstrating for the first time that Khovanov homology can fully detect two types of unknots in this manifold: the local unknot (class 0) and the projective unknot (class 1). This result significantly generalizes the foundational work of \textit{P. B. Kronheimer} and \textit{T. S. Mrowka} [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 113, 97--208 (2011; Zbl 1241.57017)] in \(S^3\) to non-spherical manifolds, resolves the detection problem left open by \textit{D. Chen} [``Khovanov-type homologies of null homologous links in $\mathbb{RP}^3$'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2104.04779}] (whose branched double-cover approach struggled to directly verify unknottedness), and validates the effectiveness of the Khovanov complex construction for \(\mathbb{RP}^3\) by \textit{C. Manolescu} and \textit{M. Willis} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc., Ser. B 12, 789--830 (2025; Zbl 1573.57035)]. By deeply integrating instanton theory with Khovanov homology, this research offers a reference framework for the implementation of topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) in non-spherical manifolds.