Ben McCarty (University of Memphis)
Shortly after Khovanov homology for classical knots and links was developed in the late 90s, Bar-Natan produced a Mathematica program for computing it from a planar diagram. Yet when Manturov defined Khovanov homology for virtual links in 2007, a program for computing it did not appear until Tubbenhauer’s 2012 paper. Even then, the theoretical framework used was quite different from the one Manturov described. In this talk, we describe a theoretical framework for computing the Khovanov homology of a virtual link, synthesized from work by Manturov, Dye-Kaestner-Kauffman and others. We also show how to use this framework to create a program for computing the Khovanov homology of a virtual link, which is directly based upon Bar-Natan’s original program for classical links. This program is joint work with Scott Baldridge, Heather Dye, Aaron Kaestner, and Lou Kauffman.