This thesis studies U(1) Chern-Simons theory and its relation to the results of Chris Beasley and Edward Witten (2005). Using the partition function formalism, we are led to compare U(1) Chern-Simons theory as constructed by Manoliu (1998) to the results of Beasley and Witten (2005). This leads to an explicit calculation of the U(1) Chern Simons partition function on a closed Sasakian three-manifold and opens the door to studying rigorous extensions of this theory to more general gauge groups and three-manifold geometries.

This thesis studies U(1) Chern-Simons theory and its relation to the results of Chris Beasley and Edward Witten (2005). Using the partition function formalism, we are led to compare U(1) Chern-Simons theory as constructed by Manoliu (1998) to the results of Beasley and Witten (2005). This leads to an explicit calculation of the U(1) Chern Simons partition function on a closed Sasakian three-manifold and opens the door to studying rigorous extensions of this theory to more general gauge groups and three-manifold geometries.