On the spectral sequence from Khovanov homology to Heegaard Floer homology

Abstract

Ozsvath and Szabo show that there is a spectral sequence whose E^2 term is the reduced Khovanov homology of L, and which converges to the Heegaard Floer homology of the (orientation reversed) branched double cover of S^3 along L. We prove that the E^k term of this spectral sequence is an invariant of the link L for all k >= 2. If L is a transverse link in the standard tight contact structure on S^3, then we show that Plamenevskaya's transverse invariant psi(L) gives rise to a transverse invariant, psi^k(L), in the E^k term for each k >= 2. We use this fact to compute each term in the spectral sequences associated to the torus knots T(3,4) and T(3,5).