Explicit formulae for the Aicardi-Juyumaya bracket of tied links

Abstract

The double bracket $⟨⟨\cdot ⟩⟩$ (also known as the AJ-bracket) is an invariant of framed tied links that extends the Kauffman bracket of classical links. Unlike the classical setting, little is known about the structure of AJ-states (analogous to classical Kauffman states) of a given tied link diagram, and no general state-sum formula for the AJ-bracket is currently available. In this paper we analyze the AJ-states of $2$- and $3$-tied link diagrams, and provide a complete description of their associated resolution trees leading to a computation of $⟨⟨\cdot ⟩⟩$. As a result, we derive explicit state-sum formulas for the AJ-bracket. These are the first closed-form expressions of this kind, and they constitute a concrete step toward a combinatorial categorification of the tied Jones polynomial.

19 pages, 5 figures