Related papers: A kernel of a braid group representation yields a …
A group-theoretical method, via Wada's representations, is presented to distinguish Kishino's virtual knot from the unknot. Biquandles are constructed for any group using Wada's braid group representations. Cocycle invariants for these…
We give an explicit geometric argument that Artin's braid group $B_n$ is right-orderable. The construction is elementary, natural, and leads to a new, effectively computable, canonical form for braids which we call left-consistent canonical…
We show that the set of colored Jones polynomials and the set of generalized Alexander polynomials defined by Akutsu, Deguchi and Ohtsuki intersect non-trivially. Moreover it is shown that the intersection is (at least includes) the set of…
The well known incompatibility between inhomogeneous quantum groups and the standard q-deformation is shown to disappear (at least in certain cases) when admitting the quantum group to be braided. Braided quantum ISO(p,N-p) containing…
We establish a necessary condition that an automorphism of a nontrivial finitely generated bi-orderable group can preserve a bi-ordering: at least one of its eigenvalues, suitably defined, must be real and positive. Applications are given…
We show that the proportion of hyperbolic knots among all of the prime knots of $n$ or fewer crossings does not converge to $1$ as $n$ approaches infinity. Moreover, we show that if $K$ is a nontrivial knot then the proportion of satellites…
There is an infinitely generated free subgroup of the smooth knot concordance group with the property that no nontrivial element in this subgroup can be represented by an alternating knot. This subgroup has the further property that every…
We discuss the fundamental (relative) 3-classes of knots (or hyperbolic links), and provide diagrammatic descriptions of the push-forwards with respect to every link-group representation. The point is an observation of a bridge between the…
We consider quantum group theory on the Hilbert space level. We find all unitary representations of three braided quantum groups related to the quantum ``ax+b'' group. First we introduce an auxiliary braided quantum group, which is…
A result by Dehornoy (1992) says that every nontrivial braid admits a sigma-definite word representative, defined as a braid word in which the generator sigma_i with maximal index i appears with exponents that are all positive, or all…
Let $G$ be a nonabelian, simple group with a nontrivial conjugacy class $C \subseteq G$. Let $K$ be a diagram of an oriented knot in $S^3$, thought of as computational input. We show that for each such $G$ and $C$, the problem of counting…
This article was submitted to a volume under preparation, with Benson Farb as the editor, on the topic of open problems in surface mapping class groups. The braid group B_n is the mapping class group of an n-times punctured disk. The…
Knot polynomials colored with symmetric representations of $SL_q(N)$ satisfy difference equations as functions of representation parameter, which look like quantization of classical ${\cal A}$-polynomials. However, they are quite difficult…
Let B be the generalized braid group associated to some finite complex reflection group. We define a representation of B of dimension the number of reflections of the corresponding reflection group, which generalizes the Krammer…
The knot group is the fundamental group of a knot or link complement. A necessary and sufficient conditions for a group to be realized as the knot group of some link was provided. This result was shown using the closed braid method.…
Let K be a nontrivial knot in the 3-sphere with the exterior E(K), and u in G(K), the fundamental group of E(K), a slope element represented by an essential simple closed curve on the boundary of E(K). Since the normal closure of u in G(K)…
An $L$-space knot is a knot that admits a positive Dehn surgery yielding an $L$-space. Many known hyperbolic $L$-space knots are braid positive, meaning they can be represented as the closure of a positive braid. Recently, Baker and Kegel…
In this expositional essay, we introduce some elements of the study of groups by analysing the braid pattern on a knitted blanket. We determine that the blanket features pure braids with a minimal number of crossings. Moreover, we determine…
In the 1920's Artin defined the braid group in an attempt to understand knots in a more algebraic setting. A braid is a certain arrangement of strings in three-dimensional space. It is a celebrated theorem of Alexander that every knot is…
The Jones problem is a question whether there is a non-trivial knot with the trivial Jones polynomial in one variable $q$. The answer to this fundamental question is still unknown despite numerous attempts to explore it. In braid…