Equivariant Khovanov-Rozansky homology and Lee-Gornik spectral sequence (Q887026)

Hao Wu studies here the equivariant \(\mathfrak{sl}_N\) Khovanov-Rozansky homology, a generalization by \textit{D. Krasner} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 10, No. 1, 1--32 (2010; Zbl 1250.57014)] of the matrix-factorization based link homology defined in [\textit{M. Khovanov} and \textit{L. Rozansky}, Fundam. Math. 199, No. 1, 1--91 (2008; Zbl 1145.57009)] that categorifies the \(\mathfrak{sl}_N\) Reshetikhin-Turaev invariants. His main purpose is to study the relations between this theory defined over a polynomial ring \(\mathbb{C}[a]\) and the usual (deformed) one and its Lee-Gornik spectral sequence. One of the first tools in this study is a decomposition theorem by Lobb that helps breaking the equivariant complex in terms of simpler one-step or two-step complexes [\textit{A. Lobb}, Geom. Topol. 18, No. 2, 873--895 (2014; Zbl 1302.57030)]. In his study, the author re-interprets the Lee-Gornik spectral sequence in terms of exact couples built from a short exact sequence that holds for chain complexes of free \(\mathbb{C}[a]\)-modules. As a result of this construction, an action of \(\bigwedge^*(\mathbb{C}^{N-1})\) is built, generalizing Lee's endomorphism on usual (\(\mathfrak{sl}_2\)) Khovanov homology. Furthermore, by means of a numerical link invariant the author defines (the \textit{torsion width}), he gives a characterization of the page at which the spectral sequences will degenerate, and uses this to give an algorithm that recovers the equivariant homology from the spectral sequence induced by the exact couple -- thus showing that both invariants encode the same information about the link.