Emmanuel Wagner: Categorification of 1 and of the Alexander Polynomial

Abstract: I'll give a combinatorial and down-to-earth definition of the symmetric gl(1) homology. It is a (non-trivial) link homology which categorifies the trivial link invariant (equal to 1 on every link). Then I'll explain how to use this construction to categorify the Alexander polynomial. Finally, if time permits, I will relate this construction to the Hochschild homology of Soergel bimodules (joint with L-H. Robert).