Link Invariants, Holonomy Algebras, and Functional Integration

Abstract

Given a principal G-bundle over a smooth manifold M, with G a compact Lie group, and given a finite-dimensional unitary representation ρ of G, one may define an algebra of functions on A/G, the “holonomy Banach algebra” Hb, by completing an algebra generated by regularized Wilson loops. Elements of the dual H*b may be regarded as a substitute for measures on A/G. There is a natural linear map from Diff0(M)-invariant elements of H*b to the space of complex-valued ambient isotopy invariants of framed oriented links in M. Moreover, this map is one-to-one when dim M ≥ 3. Similar results hold for a C*-algebraic analog, the “holonomy C*-algebra.” © 1995 Acdemic Press, Inc.