Virtual knot theory, introduced by Kauffman, is a generalization of classical knot theory of interest because its finite-type invariant theory is potentially a topological interpretation of Etingof and Kazhdan's theory of quantization of Lie bi-algebras. Classical knots inject into virtual knots}, and flat virtual knots is the quotient of virtual knots which equates the real positive and negative crossings, and in this sense is complementary to classical knot theory within virtual knot theory. We classify flat virtual tangles with no closed components and give bases for its ``infinitesimal'' algebras. The classification of the former can be used as an invariant on virtual tangles with no closed components and virtual braids. In a subsequent paper, we will show that the infinitesimal algebras are the target spaces of any universal finite-type invariants on the respective variants of the flat virtual tangles.

Knot theory is not generally considered an algebraic subject, due to the fact that knots don’t have much algebraic structure: there are a few operations defined on them (such as connected sum and cabling), but these don’t nearly make the space of knots finitely generated. In this thesis, following an idea of Dror Bar-Natan’s, we develop an algebraic setting for knot theory by considering the larger, richer space of knotted trivalent graphs (KTGs), which includes knots and links. KTGs along with standard operations defined on them form a finitely generated algebraic structure, in which many topological knot properties are definable using simple formulas. Thus, a homomorphic invariant of KTGs provides an algebraic way to study knots. We present a construction for such an invariant. The starting point is extending the Kontsevich integral of knots to KTGs. This was first done in a series of papers by Le, Murakami, Murakami and Ohtsuki in the late 90’s using the theory of associators. We present an elementary construction building on Kontsevich’s original definition, and discuss the homomorphicity properties of the resulting invariant, which turns out to be homomorphic with respect to almost all of the KTG operations except for one, called “edge unzip”. Unfortunately, edge unzip is crucial for finite generation, and we prove that in fact no universal finite type invariant of KTGs can intertwine all the standard operations at once. To fix this, we present an alternative construction of the space of KTGs on which a homomorphic universal finite type invariant exists. This space retains ii all the good properties of the original KTGs: it is finitely generated, includes knots, and is closely related to Drinfel’d associators. The thesis is based on two articles, one published [Da] and one preprint [BD1], the second one joint with Dror Bar-Natan.

Knot theory is not generally considered an algebraic subject, due to the fact that knots don’t have much algebraic structure: there are a few operations defined on them (such as connected sum and cabling), but these don’t nearly make the space of knots finitely generated. In this thesis, following an idea of Dror Bar-Natan’s, we develop an algebraic setting for knot theory by considering the larger, richer space of knotted trivalent graphs (KTGs), which includes knots and links. KTGs along with standard operations defined on them form a finitely generated algebraic structure, in which many topological knot properties are definable using simple formulas. Thus, a homomorphic invariant of KTGs provides an algebraic way to study knots. We present a construction for such an invariant. The starting point is extending the Kontsevich integral of knots to KTGs. This was first done in a series of papers by Le, Murakami, Murakami and Ohtsuki in the late 90’s using the theory of associators. We present an elementary construction building on Kontsevich’s original definition, and discuss the homomorphicity properties of the resulting invariant, which turns out to be homomorphic with respect to almost all of the KTG operations except for one, called “edge unzip”. Unfortunately, edge unzip is crucial for finite generation, and we prove that in fact no universal finite type invariant of KTGs can intertwine all the standard operations at once. To fix this, we present an alternative construction of the space of KTGs on which a homomorphic universal finite type invariant exists. This space retains ii all the good properties of the original KTGs: it is finitely generated, includes knots, and is closely related to Drinfel’d associators. The thesis is based on two articles, one published [Da] and one preprint [BD1], the second one joint with Dror Bar-Natan.

Virtual knot theory, introduced by Kauffman, is a generalization of classical knot theory of interest because its finite-type invariant theory is potentially a topological interpretation of Etingof and Kazhdan's theory of quantization of Lie bi-algebras. Classical knots inject into virtual knots}, and flat virtual knots is the quotient of virtual knots which equates the real positive and negative crossings, and in this sense is complementary to classical knot theory within virtual knot theory. We classify flat virtual tangles with no closed components and give bases for its ``infinitesimal'' algebras. The classification of the former can be used as an invariant on virtual tangles with no closed components and virtual braids. In a subsequent paper, we will show that the infinitesimal algebras are the target spaces of any universal finite-type invariants on the respective variants of the flat virtual tangles.

En 1998, R. Gompf a défini un invariant homotopique des champs de plans orientés des 3-variétés fermées orientées. Cet invariant est défini pour les champs de plans orientés xi; de toute 3-variété fermée orientée M dont la première classe de Chern c_1(xi) est un élément de torsion de H_2(M;Z). Dans le premier chapitre de la thèse, nous définissons une extension de l’invariant de Gompf pour toutes les 3-variétés compactes orientées à bord et nous étudions ses variations lors de chirurgies lagrangiennes. Il en résulte que l’invariant de Gompf étendu peut être vu comme un invariant de type fini de degré 2.L’invariant Théta est un invariant de variétés de dimension 3 parallélisées qui provient de la partie de degré 1 du développement perturbatif de la théorie de Chern-Simons. G. Kuperberg et D. Thurston ont identifié l’invariant Théta(M,tau) d’une sphère d’homologie entière M munie d’une parallélisation tau; à lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1(tau) où lambda_cw désigne la généralisation de Walker de l’invariant de Casson et p_1 est un invariant de la parallélisation définie à partir d’une première classe de Pontrjagin. C. Lescop a étendu l’invariant Théta aux sphères d’homologie rationnelle munies d’une classe d’homotopie de combings et elle a montré que pour toute sphère d’homologie rationnelle M munie d’un combing X, la formule Théta(M,[X]) = 3·lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1([X]) était encore valable pour une extension ad hoc des nombres de Pontrjagin aux combings. Elle a aussi donné une formule combinatoire pour l’invariant Théta d’une sphère d’homologie rationnelle présentée par un diagramme de Heegaard et munie d’un combing associé au diagramme, et elle a démontré combinatoirement que cette formule définit un invariant homotopique des couples (M,[X]). Dans le prolongement de ce travail, le deuxième chapitre de la thèse présente une preuve combinatoire de la décomposition de cet invariant combinatoire comme 3·lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1([X]). Cette preuve repose sur la théorie des invariants de type fini des sphères d’homologie rationnelle relativement aux chirurgies lagrangiennes établie par D. Moussard en 2012 / In 1998, R. Gompf defined a homotopy invariant of oriented 2-plane fields in 3-manifolds. This invariant is defined for oriented 2-plane fields xi in a closed oriented 3-manifold M when the first Chern class c_1(xi) is a torsion element of H_2(M;Z). In Chapter I, we define an extension of the Gompf invariant for all compact oriented 3-manifolds with boundary and we study its iterated variations under Lagrangian-preserving surgeries. It follows that the extended Gompf invariant has degree two for a suitable finite type invariant theory.The Theta-invariant is an invariant of parallelized 3-manifolds constructed from the degree one part of the perturbative expansion of Chern–Simons theory. G. Kuperberg and D. Thurston identified the invariant Theta(M,tau) of a rational homology 3-sphere M equipped with a parallelization tau with 3·lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1(tau) where lambda_cw denotes Walker’s generalization of the Casson invariant and where p_1 is an invariant of parallelizations defined using a first Pontrjagin class. C. Lescop extended the Theta-invariant to rational homology 3-spheres equipped with a homotopy class of combings and she showed that for all rational homology 3-sphere M equipped with a combing X, the relation Theta(M,[X]) = 3·lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1([X]) still holds using an ad hoc extension of the Pontrjagin numbers for combings. She also gave a combinatorial formula for the Theta-invariant of a rational homology 3-sphere represented by a Heeagaard diagram and equipped with a combing associated to the diagram, and she proved that this formula defines a homotopy invariant of the pair (M,[X]), in a combinatorial way. Following this work, Chapter II presents a combinatorial proof of the decomposition of this combinatorial invariant as 3·lambda_cw(M) + 1/4·p_1([X]). This proof relies on the finite type invariant theory for rational homology 3-spheres with respect to Lagrangian-preserving surgeries established by D. Moussard in 2012

Cette thèse a pour objet l'étude des invariants de type fini des sphères d'homologie rationnelle de dimension 3, et des nœuds homologiquement triviaux dans ces sphères. Les principaux résultats sont présentés dans le chapitre 2. Ils sont démontrés dans les chapitres 3 à 6. Le chapitre 3 est un article intitulé ``Finite type invariants of rational homology 3-spheres'', à paraître dans Algebraic & Geometric Topology. Il décrit le gradué associé à la filtration de l'espace vectoriel rationnel engendré par les sphères d'homologie rationnelle, définie par les chirurgies rationnelles préservant le lagrangien. Le chapitre 4 est un article intitulé ``On Alexander modules and Blanchfield forms of null-homologous knots in rational homology spheres'', publié dans Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications. Il contient la classification des modules d'Alexander des nœuds homologiquement triviaux dans les sphères d'homologie rationnelle, et une étude des formes de Blanchfield définies sur ces modules. Dans la suite, on considère les paires (M,K) formées d'une sphère d'homologie rationnelle M et d'un nœud K homologiquement trivial dans M. Dans le chapitre 5, on montre que deux telles paires ont des modules d'Alexander rationnels munis de leurs formes de Blanchfield isomorphes si et seulement si elles s'obtiennent l'une de l'autre par une suite finie de chirurgies rationnelles nulles préservant le lagrangien, c'est-à-dire effectuées sur des corps en anses d'homologie rationnelle homologiquement triviaux dans le complémentaire du nœud. Dans le chapitre 6, on étudie le gradué associé à la filtration de l'espace vectoriel rationnel engendré par les paires (M,K) définie par les chirurgies rationnelles nulles préservant le lagrangien. Ces deux derniers chapitres comportent des travaux en progrès. / This thesis contains a study of finite type invariants of rational homology 3-spheres, and of null-homologous knots in these spheres. The main results are described in Chapter 2, and proved in Chapters 3 to 6. Chapter 3 is an article entitled ``Finite type invariants of rational homology 3-spheres'', to appear in Algebraic & Geometric Topology. In this article, we describe the graded space associated with the filtration of the rational vector space generated by rational homology spheres, defined by rational Lagrangian-preserving surgeries. Chapter 4 is an article entitled ``On Alexander modules and Blanchfield forms of null-homologous knots in rational homology spheres'', published in Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications. It contains the classification of the Alexander modules of null-homologous knots in rational homology spheres, and a study of the Blanchfield forms defined on these modules. In the sequel, we consider pairs (M,K) made of a rational homology sphere M and a null-homologous knot K in M. In Chapter 5, we prove that two such pairs have isomorphic rational Alexander modules endowed with their Blanchfield forms if and only if they can be obtained from one another by a finite sequence of null rational Lagrangian-preserving surgeries, i.e. Lagrangian-preserving surgeries performed on rational homology handlebodies homologically trivial in the complement of the knot. In Chapter 6, we study the graded space associated with the filtration of the rational vector space generated by pairs (M,K) defined by null rational Lagrangian-preserving surgeries. These last two chapters contain work in progress.