SL(2, ℂ) Chern-Simons theory and the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomial

It has been proposed that the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomial is equal to the perturbative expansion of the Chern-Simons gauge theory with complex gauge group SL(2) on the hyperbolic knot complement. In this note we make the first step toward verifying this relation beyond the semi-classical approximation. This requires a careful understanding of some delicate issues, such as normalization of the colored Jones polynomial and the choice of polarization in Chern-Simons theory. Addressing these issues allows us to go beyond the volume conjecture and to verify some predictions for the behavior of the subleading terms in the asymptotic expansion of the colored Jones polynomial.