Invariants of 3-manifolds and projective representations of mapping class groups via quantum groups at roots of unity

An example of a finite dimensional factorizable ribbon Hopf -algebra is given by a quotientH=u _q (g) of the quantized universal enveloping algebraU _q (g) at a root of unityq of odd degree. The mapping class groupM _g,1 of a surface of genusg with one hole projectively acts by automorphisms in theH-moduleH ^*g , ifH ^* is endowed with the coadjointH-module structure. There exists a projective representation of the mapping class groupM _g,n of a surface of genusg withn holes labeled by finite dimensionalH-modulesX ₁, ...,X _n in the vector space Hom _H (X ₁ ... X _n ,H ^*g ). An invariant of closed oriented 3-manifolds is constructed. Modifications of these constructions for a class of ribbon Hopf algebras satisfying weaker conditions than factorizability (including most ofu _q (g) at roots of unityq of even degree) are described.This work was supported in part by the EPSRC research grant GR/G 42976.