On the Connectivity of Cobordisms and Half-Projective TQFT's

Abstract

We consider a generalization of the axioms of a TQFT, so called half-projective TQFT's, with an anomaly, $x^μ$, in the composition law. $μ$ is a coboundary on the cobordism categories with non-negative, integer values. The element $x$ of the ring over which the TQFT is defined does not have to be invertible. In particular, it may be 0. This modification makes it possible to extend quantum-invariants, which vanish on $S^1\times S^2$, to non-trivial TQFT's. (A TQFT in the sense of Atiyah with this property has to be trivial all together). Under a few natural assumptions the notion of a half-projective TQFT is shown to be the only possible generalization. Based on separate work with Lyubashenko on connected TQFT's, we construct a large class of half-projective TQFT's with $x=0$. Their invariants vanish on $S^1\times S^2$, and they coincide with the Hennings invariant for non-semisimple Hopf algebras. Several toplogical tools that are relevant for vanishing properties of such TQFT's are developed. They are concerned with connectivity properties of cobordisms, as for example maximal non-separating surfaces. We introduce in particular the notions of ``interior'' homotopy and homology groups, and of coordinate graphs, which are functions on cobordisms with values in the morphisms of a graph category. For applications we will prove that half-projective TQFT's with $x=0$ vanish on cobordisms with infinite interior homology, and we argue that the order of divergence of the TQFT on a cobordism in the ``classical limit'' can be estimated by the rank of its maximal free interior group.