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Let F F be a finite type surface and ζ \zeta a complex root of unity. The Kauffman bracket skein algebra K ζ ( F ) K_\zeta (F) is an important object in both classical and quantum topology as it has relations to the character variety, the Teichmüller space, the Jones polynomial, and the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev Topological Quantum Field Theories. We compute the rank and trace of K ζ ( F ) K_\zeta (F) over its center, and we extend a theorem of the first and second authors in [Math. Z. 289 (2018), pp. 889–920] which says the skein algebra has a splitting coming from two pants decompositions of F F . 

Abstract We show that if a sequence of normalized polynomials gives rise to a positive basis of the skein algebra of a surface, then it is sandwiched between the two types of Chebyshev polynomials. For the closed torus, we show that the normalized sequence of Chebyshev polynomials of type one $(\hat{T}_n)$ is the only one that gives a positive basis. 

We show how the quantum trace map of Bonahon and Wong can be constructed in a natural way using the skein algebra of Muller, which is an extension of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of surfaces. We also show that the quantum Teichmüller space of a marked surface, defined by Chekhov–Fock (and Kashaev) in an abstract way, can be realized as a concrete subalgebra of the skew field of the skein algebra.