Analytic Torsion, 3d Mirror Symmetry And Supergroup Chern-Simons Theories

Abstract: We consider topological field theories that compute the Reidemeister-Milnor-Turaev torsion in three dimensions. These are the psl(1|1) and the U(1|1) Chern-Simons theories, coupled to a background complex flat gauge field. We use the 3d mirror symmetry to derive the Meng-Taubes theorem, which relates the torsion and the Seiberg-Witten invariants, for a three-manifold with arbitrary first Betti number. We also present the Hamiltonian quantization of our theories, find the modular transformations of states, and various properties of loop operators. Our results for the U(1|1) theory are in general consistent with the results, found for the GL(1|1) WZW model. We also make some comments on more general supergroup Chern-Simons theories.