The Yang-Mills Measure in the $SU(3)$ Skein Module

Abstract

Let $A\ne 0$ be a complex number with $|A|\ne 1$. Let $M$ be a compact smooth oriented $3$-manifold, the $SU(3)$-skein space of $M$, $S_A(M)$, is the vector space over $\mathbb{C}$ generated by framed oriented links (including framed oriented trivalent graphs in $M$) quotient by the $SU(3)$-skein relations due to Kuperberg. For a closed, orientable surface $F$, we construct a local diffeomorphism invariant trace on $S_A(F\times I)$.

24 pages, many figures