The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents a construction of 3-dimensional TQFTs and 2-dimensional modular functors from so-called modular categories. This gives a vast class of knot invariants and 3-manifold invariants as well as a class of linear representations of the mapping class groups of surfaces. In Part II the technique of 6j-symbols is used to define state sum invariants of 3-manifolds. Their relation to the TQFTs constructed in Part I is established via the theory of shadows. Part III provides constructions of modular categories, based on quantum groups and skein modules of tangles in the 3-space.
This fundamental contribution to topological quantum field theory is accessible to graduate students in mathematics and physics with knowledge of basic algebra and topology. It is an indispensable source for everyone who wishes to enter the forefront of this fascinating area at the borderline of mathematics and physics.
Contents:
Invariants of graphs in Euclidean 3-space and of closed 3-manifolds
Foundations of topological quantum field theory
Three-dimensional topological quantum field theory
Two-dimensional modular functors
6j-symbols
Simplicial state sums on 3-manifolds
Shadows of manifolds and state sums on shadows
Constructions of modular categories
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"It is still the latest and greatest go-to source for information on quantum field theories in three dimensions [...]." Zentralblatt für Mathematik