Abelian Gauge Theory, Knots and Odd Khovanov Homology

Abstract: A homological invariant of 3-manifolds is defined, using abelian Yang-Mills gauge theory. It is shown that the construction, in an appropriate sense, is functorial with respect to the families of 4-dimensional cobordisms. This construction and its functoriality are used to define several link invariants. The strongest version of these invariants has the form of a filtered chain complex that can recover Khovanov homology of the mirror image as a bi-graded group.