Novikov homology, twisted Alexander polynomials, and Thurston cones

Let $M$ be a connected CW complex, and let $G$ denote the fundamental group of $M$. Let $\pi$ be an epimorphism of $G$ onto a free finitely generated Abelian group $H$, let $\xi:H\to \mathbf R$ be a homomorphism, and let $\rho$ be an antihomomorphism of $G$ to the group $\operatorname{GL}(V)$ of automorphisms of a free finitely generated $R$-module $V$ (where $R$ is a commutative factorial ring).

To these data, we associate the twisted Novikov homology of $M$, which is a module over the Novikov completion of the ring $\Lambda=R[H]$. The twisted Novikov homology provides the lower bounds for the number of zeros of any Morse form whose cohomology class equals $\xi\circ\pi$. This generalizes a result by H. Goda and the author.

In the case when $M$ is a compact connected 3-manifold with zero Euler characteristic, we obtain a criterion for the vanishing of the twisted Novikov homology of $M$ in terms of the corresponding twisted Alexander polynomial of the group $G$.

We discuss the relationship of the twisted Novikov homology with the Thurston norm on the 1-cohomology of $M$.

The electronic preprint of this work (2004) is available from the ArXiv.