Related papers: Invariants of closed braids via counting surfaces

A simple multivariable version of the reduced Burau matrix is constructed for any braid. It is shown how the multivariable Alexander polynomial for the closure of the braid can be found directly from this matrix.

We associate to every positive braid a braid monodromy group, generalizing the geometric monodromy group of an isolated plane curve singularity. If the closure of the braid is a knot, we identify the corresponding group with a framed…

This paper aims to determine the images of the braid group under representations afforded by the Yang Baxter equation when the solution is a nontrivial $4 \times 4$ matrix. Making the assumption that all the eigenvalues of the Yang Baxter…

We define a new kind of Gauss diagrams to describe knots in the solid torus with projections in the annulus. We see that it provides an efficient tool for showing that a knot diagram can be fully recovered from its decorated Gauss diagram,…

These introductory lectures show how to define finite type invariants of links and 3-manifolds by counting graph configurations in 3-manifolds, following ideas of Witten and Kontsevich. The linking number is the simplest finite type…

Using the diagrammatic approach to integrals over Gaussian random matrices, we find a representation for polynomial Lie group integrals as infinite sums over certain maps on surfaces. The maps involved satisfy a specific condition: they…

We give a 3-page description of the Gassner invariant / representation of braids / pure braids, along with a description and a proof of its unitarity property.

A genus one curve of degree 5 is defined by the 4 x 4 Pfaffians of a 5 x 5 alternating matrix of linear forms on P^4. We describe a general method for investigating the invariant theory of such models. We use it to explain how we found our…

We define a new algebraic structure called a \emph{pointed rack} and use it to construct ambient isotopy invariants of $ n $-braids. We first introduce an integer-valued invariant of braids using pointed racks. This is then strengthened by…

We observe that any knot invariant extends to virtual knots. The isotopy classification problem for virtual knots is reduced to an algebraic problem formulated in terms of an algebra of arrow diagrams. We introduce a new notion of finite…

We introduce priors and algorithms to perform Bayesian inference in Gaussian models defined by acyclic directed mixed graphs. Such a class of graphs, composed of directed and bi-directed edges, is a representation of conditional…

Knots in open strands such as ropes, fibers, and polymers, cannot typically be described in the language of knot theory, which characterizes only closed curves in space. Simulations of open knotted polymer chains, often parameterized to…

In a previous paper by the author a universal ring of invariants for algebraic structures of a given type was constructed. This ring is a polynomial algebra that is generated by certain trace diagrams. It was shown that this ring admits the…

Stacking probabilistic building blocks into deeper architectures typically breaks closed-form inference. We show that closed-form inference can be preserved. We identify five factor-graph primitives: a bilinear factor, an exponential link,…

Virtual braids are a combinatorial generalization of braids. We present abstract braids as equivalence classes of braid diagrams on a surface, joining two distinguished boundary components. They are identified up to isotopy, compatibility,…

Starting from the free field realization of Kac-Moody Lie algebra, we define a generalized Yang-Yang function. Then for the Lie algebra of type $A_{n}$, we derive braiding and fusion matrix by braiding the thimble from the generalized…

Finite order invariants (Vassiliev invariants) of knots are expressed in terms of weight systems, that is, functions on chord diagrams satisfying the four-term relations. Weight systems have graph analogues, so-called $4$-invariants of…

We consider closed and orientable immersed hypersurfaces of translational manifolds. Given a vector field on such a hypersurface, we define a perturbation of its Gauss map, which allows us to obtain topological invariants for the immersion…

Let $P$ be a Poisson structure on a finite-dimensional affine real manifold. Can $P$ be deformed in such a way that it stays Poisson? The language of Kontsevich graphs provides a universal approach -- with respect to all affine Poisson…

In this paper we introduce the tied links, i.e. ordinary links provided with some ties between strands. The motivation for introducing such objects originates from a diagrammatical interpretation of the defining generators of the so-called…