Khovanov-Rozansky homology and higher Catalan sequences

Abstract

We give a simple recursion which computes the triply graded Khovanov-Rozansky homology of several infinite families of knots and links, including the $(n,nm\pm 1)$ and $(n,nm)$ torus links for $n,m\ge 1$. We interpret our results in terms of Catalan combinatorics, proving a conjecture of Gorsky's. Our computations agree with predictions coming from Hilbert schemes and rational DAHA, which also proves the Gorsky-Oblomkov-Rasmussen-Shende conjectures in these cases. Additionally, our results suggest a topological interpretation of the symmetric functions which appear in the context of the $m$-shuffle conjecture of Haglund-Haiman-Loehr-Remmel-Ulyanov.

39 pages, many figures