Wilson lines in Chern-Simons theory and link invariants

The vacuum expectation values of Wilson line operators W(L) in the Chern-Simons theory are computed to second order to perturbation theory. The meaning of the framing procedure for knots is analyzed in the context of the Chern-simons field theory. The relation between W(L) and the link invariant polynomials is discussed. We derive an explicit analytic expression for the second coefficient of the Alexander-Conway polynomial, which is related to the Arf- and Casson-invariant. We present also some new relations between the HOMFLY coefficients.