Lectures on SL(3) foams and link homology

Abstract

These notes are based on the three lectures that one of the authors gave at Tsinghua University in the summer of 2023 as part of the workshop on Geometric Representation Theory and Applications. They contain an introduction to the evaluation of $\mathsf{SL}(3)$ foams and the associated topological theory of trivalent planar graphs and foam cobordisms between them. A categorification of the Kuperberg quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_3$ web and link invariant and the Robert-Wagner $\mathsf{SL}(N)$ foam evaluation are reviewed as well.

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