Algebra/Topology Seminar

Speaker: Konstantin Wernli,

Title: Cutting and gluing of configuration space invariants

Abstract: Perturbative Chern-Simons invariants are invariants of 3-manifolds defined via configuration space integrals motivated by the Chern-Simons Quantum Field Theory. After reviewing the definition and explaining their roots in Quantum Field Theory, I will explain a cutting-and-gluing technique for those invariants that led to an explicit computation of the lowest non-trivial such invariant in joint work with Cattaneo and Mnev. A more modern interpretation of the perturbative invariants are the graph complex models of configuration spaces studied by Willwacher, Campos, Idrissi, and Lambrechts, I will briefly review this and speculate on similar cutting-and-gluing techniques for such models.