Khovanov homology, open books, and tight contact structures

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John Baldwin, Princeton University
Fine Hall 314

I will discuss a construction modeled on Khovanov homology which associates to a surface, $S$, and a product of Dehn twists, $\Phi$, a group $Kh(S,\Phi)$. The group $Kh(S,\Phi)$ may sometimes be used to determine whether the contact structure compatible with the open book $(S,Phi)$ is tight or non-fillable. This construction generalizes the relationship between the reduced Khovanov homology of a link and the Heegaard Floer homology of its branched double cover.