Topological quantum field theories

1. Jul 15, 2003

meteor

Chern-Simons theory is a 3d-TQFT and Crane-Yetter model is a 4d-TQFT
There exist another Topological Quantum Field Theory apart of these two models?

Last edited: Jul 15, 2003
2. Jul 15, 2003

marcus

Meteor you would be doing me a favor if you could explain a little about Chern-Simons theory and perhaps give some web links---all at very introductory level if possible.

3. Jul 16, 2003

meteor

Sorry, I'm not an expert on it, so what I'm going to say is probably known to you:
Chern-Simons theory (a.k.a. Chern-Simons gauge theory) is a gauge theory. It's gauge invariant and Lorentz invariant
One of the most important features of Chern-Simons theory is that is independent of the background metric that you choose for the spacetime
In Chern-Simons theory, the field is a connection
Ed Witten discovered in 1989 that exists some relationship between knot theory and Chern-Simons theory
These two papers seem introductory:
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-th/9902115
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-th/9905057
If this interest to someone, I've discovered that the Turaev-Viro model is another TQFT

Last edited: Jul 16, 2003
4. Jul 16, 2003