Braids, the Artin Group, and the Jones Polynomial
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The Borromean Rings: a Video About the New IMU Logo
The Borromean Rings: A Video about the New IMU Logo Charles Gunn and John M. Sullivan∗ Technische Universitat¨ Berlin Institut fur¨ Mathematik, MA 3–2 Str. des 17. Juni 136 10623 Berlin, Germany Email: {gunn,sullivan}@math.tu-berlin.de Abstract This paper describes our video The Borromean Rings: A new logo for the IMU, which was premiered at the opening ceremony of the last International Congress. The video explains some of the mathematics behind the logo of the In- ternational Mathematical Union, which is based on the tight configuration of the Borromean rings. This configuration has pyritohedral symmetry, so the video includes an exploration of this interesting symmetry group. Figure 1: The IMU logo depicts the tight config- Figure 2: A typical diagram for the Borromean uration of the Borromean rings. Its symmetry is rings uses three round circles, with alternating pyritohedral, as defined in Section 3. crossings. In the upper corners are diagrams for two other three-component Brunnian links. 1 The IMU Logo and the Borromean Rings In 2004, the International Mathematical Union (IMU), which had never had a logo, announced a competition to design one. The winning entry, shown in Figure 1, was designed by one of us (Sullivan) with help from Nancy Wrinkle. It depicts the Borromean rings, not in the usual diagram (Figure 2) but instead in their tight configuration, the shape they have when tied tight in thick rope. This IMU logo was unveiled at the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2006) in Madrid. We were invited to produce a short video [10] about some of the mathematics behind the logo; it was shown at the opening and closing ceremonies, and can be viewed at www.isama.org/jms/Videos/imu/. -
Jones Polynomial for Graphs of Twist Knots
Available at Applications and Applied http://pvamu.edu/aam Mathematics: Appl. Appl. Math. An International Journal ISSN: 1932-9466 (AAM) Vol. 14, Issue 2 (December 2019), pp. 1269 – 1278 Jones Polynomial for Graphs of Twist Knots 1Abdulgani ¸Sahinand 2Bünyamin ¸Sahin 1Faculty of Science and Letters 2Faculty of Science Department Department of Mathematics of Mathematics Agrı˘ Ibrahim˙ Çeçen University Selçuk University Postcode 04100 Postcode 42130 Agrı,˘ Turkey Konya, Turkey [email protected] [email protected] Received: January 1, 2019; Accepted: March 16, 2019 Abstract We frequently encounter knots in the flow of our daily life. Either we knot a tie or we tie a knot on our shoes. We can even see a fisherman knotting the rope of his boat. Of course, the knot as a mathematical model is not that simple. These are the reflections of knots embedded in three- dimensional space in our daily lives. In fact, the studies on knots are meant to create a complete classification of them. This has been achieved for a large number of knots today. But we cannot say that it has been terminated yet. There are various effective instruments while carrying out all these studies. One of these effective tools is graphs. Graphs are have made a great contribution to the development of algebraic topology. Along with this support, knot theory has taken an important place in low dimensional manifold topology. In 1984, Jones introduced a new polynomial for knots. The discovery of that polynomial opened a new era in knot theory. In a short time, this polynomial was defined by algebraic arguments and its combinatorial definition was made. -
Arxiv:1608.01812V4 [Math.GT] 8 Nov 2018 Hc Ssrne Hntehmytplnma.Teindeterm the Polynomial
A NEW TWO-VARIABLE GENERALIZATION OF THE JONES POLYNOMIAL D. GOUNDAROULIS AND S. LAMBROPOULOU Abstract. We present a new 2-variable generalization of the Jones polynomial that can be defined through the skein relation of the Jones polynomial. The well-definedness of this invariant is proved both algebraically and diagrammatically as well as via a closed combinatorial formula. This new invariant is able to distinguish more pairs of non-isotopic links than the original Jones polynomial, such as the Thistlethwaite link from the unlink with two components. 1. Introduction In the last ten years there has been a new spark of interest for polynomial invariants for framed and classical knots and links. One of the concepts that appeared was that of the framization of a knot algebra, which was first proposed by J. Juyumaya and the second author in [22, 23]. In their original work, they constructed new 2-variable polynomial invariants for framed and classical links via the Yokonuma–Hecke algebras Yd,n(u) [34], which are quotients of the framed braid group . The algebras Y (u) can be considered as framizations of the Iwahori–Hecke Fn d,n algebra of type A, Hn(u), and for d = 1, Y1,n(u) coincides with Hn(u). They used the Juyumaya trace [18] with parameters z,x1,...,xd−1 on Yd,n(u) and the so-called E-condition imposed on the framing parameters xi, 1 i d 1. These new invariants and especially those for classical links had to be compared to other≤ ≤ known− invariants like the Homflypt polynomial [30, 29, 11, 31]. -
Arxiv:1006.4176V4 [Math.GT] 4 Nov 2011 Nepnigo Uho Ntter.Freape .W Alexander Mo W
UNKNOTTING UNKNOTS A. HENRICH AND L. KAUFFMAN Abstract. A knot is an an embedding of a circle into three–dimensional space. We say that a knot is unknotted if there is an ambient isotopy of the embedding to a standard circle. By representing knots via planar diagrams, we discuss the problem of unknotting a knot diagram when we know that it is unknotted. This problem is surprisingly difficult, since it has been shown that knot diagrams may need to be made more complicated before they may be simplified. We do not yet know, however, how much more complicated they must get. We give an introduction to the work of Dynnikov who discovered the key use of arc–presentations to solve the problem of finding a way to de- tect the unknot directly from a diagram of the knot. Using Dynnikov’s work, we show how to obtain a quadratic upper bound for the number of crossings that must be introduced into a sequence of unknotting moves. We also apply Dynnikov’s results to find an upper bound for the number of moves required in an unknotting sequence. 1. Introduction When one first delves into the theory of knots, one learns that knots are typically studied using their diagrams. The first question that arises when considering these knot diagrams is: how can we tell if two knot diagrams represent the same knot? Fortunately, we have a partial answer to this question. Two knot diagrams represent the same knot in R3 if and only if they can be related by the Reidemeister moves, pictured below. -
A Symmetry Motivated Link Table
Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 15 August 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201808.0265.v1 Peer-reviewed version available at Symmetry 2018, 10, 604; doi:10.3390/sym10110604 Article A Symmetry Motivated Link Table Shawn Witte1, Michelle Flanner2 and Mariel Vazquez1,2 1 UC Davis Mathematics 2 UC Davis Microbiology and Molecular Genetics * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Proper identification of oriented knots and 2-component links requires a precise link 1 nomenclature. Motivated by questions arising in DNA topology, this study aims to produce a 2 nomenclature unambiguous with respect to link symmetries. For knots, this involves distinguishing 3 a knot type from its mirror image. In the case of 2-component links, there are up to sixteen possible 4 symmetry types for each topology. The study revisits the methods previously used to disambiguate 5 chiral knots and extends them to oriented 2-component links with up to nine crossings. Monte Carlo 6 simulations are used to report on writhe, a geometric indicator of chirality. There are ninety-two 7 prime 2-component links with up to nine crossings. Guided by geometrical data, linking number and 8 the symmetry groups of 2-component links, a canonical link diagram for each link type is proposed. 9 2 2 2 2 2 2 All diagrams but six were unambiguously chosen (815, 95, 934, 935, 939, and 941). We include complete 10 tables for prime knots with up to ten crossings and prime links with up to nine crossings. We also 11 prove a result on the behavior of the writhe under local lattice moves. -
Tait's Flyping Conjecture for 4-Regular Graphs
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B 95 (2005) 318–332 www.elsevier.com/locate/jctb Tait’s flyping conjecture for 4-regular graphs Jörg Sawollek Fachbereich Mathematik, Universität Dortmund, 44221 Dortmund, Germany Received 8 July 1998 Available online 19 July 2005 Abstract Tait’s flyping conjecture, stating that two reduced, alternating, prime link diagrams can be connected by a finite sequence of flypes, is extended to reduced, alternating, prime diagrams of 4-regular graphs in S3. The proof of this version of the flyping conjecture is based on the fact that the equivalence classes with respect to ambient isotopy and rigid vertex isotopy of graph embeddings are identical on the class of diagrams considered. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Knotted graph; Alternating diagram; Flyping conjecture 0. Introduction Very early in the history of knot theory attention has been paid to alternating diagrams of knots and links. At the end of the 19th century Tait [21] stated several famous conjectures on alternating link diagrams that could not be verified for about a century. The conjectures concerning minimal crossing numbers of reduced, alternating link diagrams [15, Theorems A, B] have been proved independently by Thistlethwaite [22], Murasugi [15], and Kauffman [6]. Tait’s flyping conjecture, claiming that two reduced, alternating, prime diagrams of a given link can be connected by a finite sequence of so-called flypes (see [4, p. 311] for Tait’s original terminology), has been shown by Menasco and Thistlethwaite [14], and for a special case, namely, for well-connected diagrams, also by Schrijver [20]. -
Knots: a Handout for Mathcircles
Knots: a handout for mathcircles Mladen Bestvina February 2003 1 Knots Informally, a knot is a knotted loop of string. You can create one easily enough in one of the following ways: • Take an extension cord, tie a knot in it, and then plug one end into the other. • Let your cat play with a ball of yarn for a while. Then find the two ends (good luck!) and tie them together. This is usually a very complicated knot. • Draw a diagram such as those pictured below. Such a diagram is a called a knot diagram or a knot projection. Trefoil and the figure 8 knot 1 The above two knots are the world's simplest knots. At the end of the handout you can see many more pictures of knots (from Robert Scharein's web site). The same picture contains many links as well. A link consists of several loops of string. Some links are so famous that they have names. For 2 2 3 example, 21 is the Hopf link, 51 is the Whitehead link, and 62 are the Bor- romean rings. They have the feature that individual strings (or components in mathematical parlance) are untangled (or unknotted) but you can't pull the strings apart without cutting. A bit of terminology: A crossing is a place where the knot crosses itself. The first number in knot's \name" is the number of crossings. Can you figure out the meaning of the other number(s)? 2 Reidemeister moves There are many knot diagrams representing the same knot. For example, both diagrams below represent the unknot. -
An Introduction to Knot Theory and the Knot Group
AN INTRODUCTION TO KNOT THEORY AND THE KNOT GROUP LARSEN LINOV Abstract. This paper for the University of Chicago Math REU is an expos- itory introduction to knot theory. In the first section, definitions are given for knots and for fundamental concepts and examples in knot theory, and motivation is given for the second section. The second section applies the fun- damental group from algebraic topology to knots as a means to approach the basic problem of knot theory, and several important examples are given as well as a general method of computation for knot diagrams. This paper assumes knowledge in basic algebraic and general topology as well as group theory. Contents 1. Knots and Links 1 1.1. Examples of Knots 2 1.2. Links 3 1.3. Knot Invariants 4 2. Knot Groups and the Wirtinger Presentation 5 2.1. Preliminary Examples 5 2.2. The Wirtinger Presentation 6 2.3. Knot Groups for Torus Knots 9 Acknowledgements 10 References 10 1. Knots and Links We open with a definition: Definition 1.1. A knot is an embedding of the circle S1 in R3. The intuitive meaning behind a knot can be directly discerned from its name, as can the motivation for the concept. A mathematical knot is just like a knot of string in the real world, except that it has no thickness, is fixed in space, and most importantly forms a closed loop, without any loose ends. For mathematical con- venience, R3 in the definition is often replaced with its one-point compactification S3. Of course, knots in the real world are not fixed in space, and there is no interesting difference between, say, two knots that differ only by a translation. -
Categorified Invariants and the Braid Group
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Volume 143, Number 7, July 2015, Pages 2801–2814 S 0002-9939(2015)12482-3 Article electronically published on February 26, 2015 CATEGORIFIED INVARIANTS AND THE BRAID GROUP JOHN A. BALDWIN AND J. ELISENDA GRIGSBY (Communicated by Daniel Ruberman) Abstract. We investigate two “categorified” braid conjugacy class invariants, one coming from Khovanov homology and the other from Heegaard Floer ho- mology. We prove that each yields a solution to the word problem but not the conjugacy problem in the braid group. In particular, our proof in the Khovanov case is completely combinatorial. 1. Introduction Recall that the n-strand braid group Bn admits the presentation σiσj = σj σi if |i − j|≥2, Bn = σ1,...,σn−1 , σiσj σi = σjσiσj if |i − j| =1 where σi corresponds to a positive half twist between the ith and (i + 1)st strands. Given a word w in the generators σ1,...,σn−1 and their inverses, we will denote by σ(w) the corresponding braid in Bn. Also, we will write σ ∼ σ if σ and σ are conjugate elements of Bn. As with any group described in terms of generators and relations, it is natural to look for combinatorial solutions to the word and conjugacy problems for the braid group: (1) Word problem: Given words w, w as above, is σ(w)=σ(w)? (2) Conjugacy problem: Given words w, w as above, is σ(w) ∼ σ(w)? The fastest known algorithms for solving Problems (1) and (2) exploit the Gar- side structure(s) of the braid group (cf. -
On Marked Braid Groups
July 30, 2018 6:43 WSPC/INSTRUCTION FILE braids_and_groups Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications c World Scientific Publishing Company ON MARKED BRAID GROUPS DENIS A. FEDOSEEV Moscow State University, Chair of Differential Geometry and Applications VASSILY O. MANTUROV Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Chair FN{12 ZHIYUN CHENG School of Mathematical Sciences, Beijing Normal University Laboratory of Mathematics and Complex Systems, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China ABSTRACT In the present paper, we introduce Z2-braids and, more generally, G-braids for an arbitrary group G. They form a natural group-theoretic counterpart of G-knots, see [2]. The underlying idea, used in the construction of these objects | decoration of crossings with some additional information | generalizes an important notion of parity introduced by the second author (see [1]) to different combinatorically{geometric theories, such as knot theory, braid theory and others. These objects act as natural enhancements of classical (Artin) braid groups. The notion of dotted braid group is introduced: classical (Artin) braid groups live inside dotted braid groups as those elements having presentation with no dots on the strands. The paper is concluded by a list of unsolved problems. Keywords: Braid, virtual braid, group, presentation, parity. Mathematics Subject Classification 2000: 57M25, 57M27 arXiv:1507.02700v2 [math.GT] 22 Jul 2015 1. Introduction In the present paper we introduce the notion of Z2−braids as well as their gen- eralization: groups of G−braids for any arbitrary group G. They form a natural group{theoretical analog of G−knots, first introduced by the second author in [2]. Those objects naturally generalize the classical (Artin) braids. -
Arxiv:Math/0005108V1 [Math.GT] 11 May 2000 1.1
INVARIANTS OF KNOT DIAGRAMS AND RELATIONS AMONG REIDEMEISTER MOVES OLOF-PETTER OSTLUND¨ Abstract. In this paper a classification of Reidemeister moves, which is the most refined, is introduced. In particular, this classification distinguishes some Ω3-moves that only differ in how the three strands that are involved in the move are ordered on the knot. To transform knot diagrams of isotopic knots into each other one must in general use Ω3-moves of at least two different classes. To show this, knot diagram invariants that jump only under Ω3-moves are introduced. Knot diagrams of isotopic knots can be connected by a sequence of Rei- demeister moves of only six, out of the total of 24, classes. This result can be applied in knot theory to simplify proofs of invariance of diagrammatical knot invariants. In particular, a criterion for a function on Gauss diagrams to define a knot invariant is presented. 1. Knot diagrams and Reidemeister moves. 1.1. Knot diagrams. A knot diagram is a picture of an oriented smooth knot like the figure eight knot diagram in Figure 1. Formally, this is the image of an immersion of S1 in R2, with transversal double points and no points of higher multiplicity, which has been decorated so that we can distinguish: a: An orientation of the strand, and b: an overpassing and an underpassing strand at each double point. Of course, the manner of decoration, such as where an arrow that indicates the orientation is placed, does not matter: Two knot diagrams are the same if they are made from the same image, have the same orientation, and have the same over-undercrossing information at each crossing point. -
A Remarkable 20-Crossing Tangle Shalom Eliahou, Jean Fromentin
A remarkable 20-crossing tangle Shalom Eliahou, Jean Fromentin To cite this version: Shalom Eliahou, Jean Fromentin. A remarkable 20-crossing tangle. 2016. hal-01382778v2 HAL Id: hal-01382778 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01382778v2 Preprint submitted on 16 Jan 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. A REMARKABLE 20-CROSSING TANGLE SHALOM ELIAHOU AND JEAN FROMENTIN Abstract. For any positive integer r, we exhibit a nontrivial knot Kr with r− r (20·2 1 +1) crossings whose Jones polynomial V (Kr) is equal to 1 modulo 2 . Our construction rests on a certain 20-crossing tangle T20 which is undetectable by the Kauffman bracket polynomial pair mod 2. 1. Introduction In [6], M. B. Thistlethwaite gave two 2–component links and one 3–component link which are nontrivial and yet have the same Jones polynomial as the corre- sponding unlink U 2 and U 3, respectively. These were the first known examples of nontrivial links undetectable by the Jones polynomial. Shortly thereafter, it was shown in [2] that, for any integer k ≥ 2, there exist infinitely many nontrivial k–component links whose Jones polynomial is equal to that of the k–component unlink U k.