Paper detail

Classical and quantum dilogarithmic invariants of flat PSL(2,C)-bundles over 3-manifolds

We introduce a family of matrix dilogarithms, which are automorphisms of C^N tensor C^N, N being any odd positive integer, associated to hyperbolic ideal tetrahedra equipped with an additional decoration. The matrix dilogarithms satisfy fundamental five-term identities that correspond to decorated versions of the 2 --> 3 move on 3-dimensional triangulations. Together with the decoration, they arise from the solution we give of a symmetrization problem for a specific family of basic matrix dilogarithms, the classical (N=1) one being the Rogers dilogarithm, which only satisfy one special instance of five-term identity. We use the matrix dilogarithms to construct invariant state sums for closed oriented 3-manifolds $W$ endowed with a flat principal PSL(2,C)-bundle rho, and a fixed non empty link L if N>1, and for (possibly "marked") cusped hyperbolic 3-manifolds M. When N=1 the state sums recover known simplicial formulas for the volume and the Chern-Simons invariant. When N>$, the invariants for M are new; those for triples (W,L,rho) coincide with the quantum hyperbolic invariants defined in [Topology 43 (2004) 1373-1423], though our present approach clarifies substantially their nature. We analyse the structural coincidences versus discrepancies between the cases N=1 and N>1, and we formulate "Volume Conjectures", having geometric motivations, about the asymptotic behaviour of the invariants when N tends to infinity.