Homotopical interpretation of link invariants from finite quandles

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a topological meaning of quandle cocycle invariants of links with respect to finite connected quandles $X$, from a perspective of homotopy theory: Specifically, for any prime $\ell$ which does not divide the type of $X$, the $\ell$-torsion of this invariants is equal to a sum of the colouring polynomial and a $\Z$-equivariant part of the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariant of a cyclic branched covering space. Moreover, our homotopical approach involves application of computing some third homology groups and second homotopy groups of the classifying spaces of quandles, from results of group cohomology.

34 pages, several figures. The previous version was be divided into two papers, as a topological paper and an algebraic one. This revision is the former, and the latter will be put in the arxiv soon