Toeplitz operators in TQFT via skein theory

preprint2012arXivOpen access

Abstract

Topological quantum field theory associates to a punctured surface ΣΣ, a level rr and colors cc in {1,...,r−1}\{1,...,r-1\} at the marked points a finite dimensional hermitian space Vr(Σ,c)V_r(Σ,c). Curves γγ on ΣΣ act as Hermitian operator TrγT_r^γ on these spaces. In the case of the punctured torus and the 4 times punctured sphere, we prove that the matrix elements of TrγT_r^γ have an asymptotic expansion in powers of 1r\frac{1}{r} and we identify the two first terms using trace functions on representation spaces of the surface in $\su$. We conjecture a formula for the general case. Then we show that the curve operators are Toeplitz operators on the sphere in the sense that Trγ=ΠrfrγΠrT_r^γ=Π_r f^γ_rΠ_r where ΠrΠ_r is the Toeplitz projector and frγf^γ_r is an explicit function on the sphere which is smooth away from the poles. Using this formula, we show that under some assumptions on the colors associated to the marked points, the sequence TrγT^γ_r is a Toeplitz operator in the usual sense with principal symbol equal to the trace function and with subleading term explicitly computed. We use this result and semi-classical analysis in order to compute the asymptotics of matrix elements of the representation of the mapping class group of ΣΣ on Vr(Σ,c)V_r(Σ,c). We recover in this way the result of Taylor and Woodward on the asymptotics of the quantum 6j-symbols and treat the case of the punctured S-matrix. We conclude with some partial results when ΣΣ is a genus 2 surface without marked points.

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