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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/. -
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Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 15 August 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201808.0265.v1 Peer-reviewed version available at Symmetry 2018, 10, 604; doi:10.3390/sym10110604 Article A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. -
On the Number of Unknot Diagrams Carolina Medina, Jorge Luis Ramírez Alfonsín, Gelasio Salazar
On the number of unknot diagrams Carolina Medina, Jorge Luis Ramírez Alfonsín, Gelasio Salazar To cite this version: Carolina Medina, Jorge Luis Ramírez Alfonsín, Gelasio Salazar. On the number of unknot diagrams. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2019, 33 (1), pp.306-326. 10.1137/17M115462X. hal-02049077 HAL Id: hal-02049077 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02049077 Submitted on 26 Feb 2019 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. On the number of unknot diagrams Carolina Medina1, Jorge L. Ramírez-Alfonsín2,3, and Gelasio Salazar1,3 1Instituto de Física, UASLP. San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 78000. 2Institut Montpelliérain Alexander Grothendieck, Université de Montpellier. Place Eugèene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. 3Unité Mixte Internationale CNRS-CONACYT-UNAM “Laboratoire Solomon Lefschetz”. Cuernavaca, Mexico. October 17, 2017 Abstract Let D be a knot diagram, and let D denote the set of diagrams that can be obtained from D by crossing exchanges. If D has n crossings, then D consists of 2n diagrams. A folklore argument shows that at least one of these 2n diagrams is unknot, from which it follows that every diagram has finite unknotting number. -
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. -
On Computation of HOMFLY-PT Polynomials of 2–Bridge Diagrams
. On computation of HOMFLY-PT polynomials of 2{bridge diagrams . .. Masahiko Murakami . Joint work with Fumio Takeshita and Seiichi Tani Nihon University . December 20th, 2010 1 Masahiko Murakami (Nihon University) On computation of HOMFLY-PT polynomials December 20th, 2010 1 / 28 Contents Motivation and Results Preliminaries Computation Conclusion 1 Masahiko Murakami (Nihon University) On computation of HOMFLY-PT polynomials December 20th, 2010 2 / 28 Contents Motivation and Results Preliminaries Computation Conclusion 1 Masahiko Murakami (Nihon University) On computation of HOMFLY-PT polynomials December 20th, 2010 3 / 28 There exist polynomial time algorithms for computing Jones polynomials and HOMFLY-PT polynomials under reasonable restrictions. Computational Complexities of Knot Polynomials Alexander polynomial [Alexander](1928) Generally, polynomial time Jones polynomial [Jones](1985) Generally, #P{hard [Jaeger, Vertigan and Welsh](1993) HOMFLY-PT polynomial [Freyd, Yetter, Hoste, Lickorish, Millett, Ocneanu](1985) [Przytycki, Traczyk](1987) Generally, #P{hard [Jaeger, Vertigan and Welsh](1993) 1 Masahiko Murakami (Nihon University) On computation of HOMFLY-PT polynomials December 20th, 2010 4 / 28 Computational Complexities of Knot Polynomials Alexander polynomial [Alexander](1928) Generally, polynomial time Jones polynomial [Jones](1985) Generally, #P{hard [Jaeger, Vertigan and Welsh](1993) HOMFLY-PT polynomial [Freyd, Yetter, Hoste, Lickorish, Millett, Ocneanu](1985) [Przytycki, Traczyk](1987) Generally, #P{hard [Jaeger, Vertigan -
Mathematics and Computation
Mathematics and Computation Mathematics and Computation Ideas Revolutionizing Technology and Science Avi Wigderson Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Copyright c 2019 by Avi Wigderson Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to [email protected] Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Control Number: 2018965993 ISBN: 978-0-691-18913-0 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available Editorial: Vickie Kearn, Lauren Bucca, and Susannah Shoemaker Production Editorial: Nathan Carr Jacket/Cover Credit: THIS INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE ADDED WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE. WE DO NOT HAVE THIS INFORMATION NOW. Production: Jacquie Poirier Publicity: Alyssa Sanford and Kathryn Stevens Copyeditor: Cyd Westmoreland This book has been composed in LATEX The publisher would like to acknowledge the author of this volume for providing the camera-ready copy from which this book was printed. Printed on acid-free paper 1 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dedicated to the memory of my father, Pinchas Wigderson (1921{1988), who loved people, loved puzzles, and inspired me. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 1943 Contents Acknowledgments 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 On the interactions of math and computation..........................3 1.2 Computational complexity theory.................................6 1.3 The nature, purpose, and style of this book............................7 1.4 Who is this book for?........................................7 1.5 Organization of the book......................................8 1.6 Notation and conventions..................................... -
Combinatorics for Knots
Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness Combinatorics for Knots J. Ram´ırezAlfons´ın Universit´eMontpellier 2 J. Ram´ırezAlfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness 1 Basic notions 2 Matroid 3 Knot coloring and the unknotting problem 4 Oriented matroids 5 Spatial graphs 6 Ropes and thickness J. Ram´ırezAlfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness J. Ram´ırez Alfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness Reidemeister moves I !1 I II !1 II III !1 III J. Ram´ırez Alfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness III II II I II II J. Ram´ırezAlfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness III I II I J. Ram´ırez Alfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness III I I II II I I J. Ram´ırez Alfons´ın Combinatorics for Knots Basic notions Matroid Knot coloring and the unknotting problem Oriented matroids Spatial graphs Ropes and thickness Bracket polynomial For any link diagram D define a Laurent polynomial < D > in one variable A which obeys the following three rules where U denotes the unknot : J. -
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. -
Dehn Filling of the “Magic” 3-Manifold
communications in analysis and geometry Volume 14, Number 5, 969–1026, 2006 Dehn filling of the “magic” 3-manifold Bruno Martelli and Carlo Petronio We classify all the non-hyperbolic Dehn fillings of the complement of the chain link with three components, conjectured to be the smallest hyperbolic 3-manifold with three cusps. We deduce the classification of all non-hyperbolic Dehn fillings of infinitely many one-cusped and two-cusped hyperbolic manifolds, including most of those with smallest known volume. Among other consequences of this classification, we mention the following: • for every integer n, we can prove that there are infinitely many hyperbolic knots in S3 having exceptional surgeries {n, n +1, n +2,n+3}, with n +1,n+ 2 giving small Seifert manifolds and n, n + 3 giving toroidal manifolds. • we exhibit a two-cusped hyperbolic manifold that contains a pair of inequivalent knots having homeomorphic complements. • we exhibit a chiral 3-manifold containing a pair of inequivalent hyperbolic knots with orientation-preservingly homeomorphic complements. • we give explicit lower bounds for the maximal distance between small Seifert fillings and any other kind of exceptional filling. 0. Introduction We study in this paper the Dehn fillings of the complement N of the chain link with three components in S3, shown in figure 1. The hyperbolic structure of N was first constructed by Thurston in his notes [28], and it was also noted there that the volume of N is particularly small. The relevance of N to three-dimensional topology comes from the fact that by filling N, one gets most of the hyperbolic manifolds known and most of the interesting non-hyperbolic fillings of cusped hyperbolic manifolds. -
Forming the Borromean Rings out of Polygonal Unknots
Forming the Borromean Rings out of polygonal unknots Hugh Howards 1 Introduction The Borromean Rings in Figure 1 appear to be made out of circles, but a result of Freedman and Skora shows that this is an optical illusion (see [F] or [H]). The Borromean Rings are a special type of Brunninan Link: a link of n components is one which is not an unlink, but for which every sublink of n − 1 components is an unlink. There are an infinite number of distinct Brunnian links of n components for n ≥ 3, but the Borromean Rings are the most famous example. This fact that the Borromean Rings cannot be formed from circles often comes as a surprise, but then we come to the contrasting result that although it cannot be built out of circles, the Borromean Rings can be built out of convex curves, for example, one can form it from two circles and an ellipse. Although it is only one out of an infinite number of Brunnian links of three Figure 1: The Borromean Rings. 1 components, it is the only one which can be built out of convex compo- nents [H]. The convexity result is, in fact a bit stronger and shows that no 4 component Brunnian link can be made out of convex components and Davis generalizes this result to 5 components in [D]. While this shows it is in some sense hard to form most Brunnian links out of certain shapes, the Borromean Rings leave some flexibility. This leads to the question of what shapes can be used to form the Borromean Rings and the following surprising conjecture of Matthew Cook at the California Institute of Technology. -
Hyperbolic Structures from Link Diagrams
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2012 Hyperbolic Structures from Link Diagrams Anastasiia Tsvietkova [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Geometry and Topology Commons Recommended Citation Tsvietkova, Anastasiia, "Hyperbolic Structures from Link Diagrams. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2012. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1361 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Anastasiia Tsvietkova entitled "Hyperbolic Structures from Link Diagrams." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Mathematics. Morwen B. Thistlethwaite, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Conrad P. Plaut, James Conant, Michael Berry Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Hyperbolic Structures from Link Diagrams A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Anastasiia Tsvietkova May 2012 Copyright ©2012 by Anastasiia Tsvietkova. All rights reserved. ii Acknowledgements I am deeply thankful to Morwen Thistlethwaite, whose thoughtful guidance and generous advice made this research possible.