No abstract

In these notes we collect some results about finite dimensional representations of $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(1|1))$ and related invariants of framed tangles which are well-known to experts but difficult to find in the literature. In particular, we give an explicit description of the ribbon structure on the category of finite dimensional $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(1|1))$-representation and we use it to construct the corresponding quantum invariant of framed tangles. We explain in detail why this invariant vanishes on closed links and how one can modify the construction to get a nonzero invariant of framed closed links. Finally we show how to obtain the Alexander polynomial by considering the vector representation of $U_q(\mathfrak{gl}(1|1))$.Comment: This is a corrected and revised version, to be published on Arkiv f\"or Matematik. This is part of the author's PhD Thesi

We define web categories describing intertwiners for the orthogonal and symplectic Lie algebras, and, in the quantized setup, for certain orthogonal and symplectic coideal subalgebras. They generalize the Brauer category, and allow us to prove quantum versions of some classical type BCD Howe dualities.

We consider the monoidal subcategory of finite dimensional representations of Uq(gl(1|1)) generated by the vector representation, and we provide a diagram calculus for the intertwining operators, which allows to compute explicitly the canonical basis. We construct then a categorification of these representations and of the action of both Uq(gl(1|1)) and the intertwining operators using subquotient categories of the BGG category O(gl n ).

We define a degenerate affine version of the walled Brauer algebra, that has the same role plaid by the degenerate affine Hecke algebra for the symmetric group algebra. We use it to prove a higher level mixed Schur-Weyl duality for gl_N. We consider then families of cyclotomic quotients of level two which appear naturally in Lie theory and we prove that they inherit from there a natural grading and a graded cellular structure