Related papers: Braid groups and discrete diffeomorphisms of the p…
We show that $\mathbb{C}^2$ contains pairs of properly embedded, smooth complex curves that are isotopic through homeomorphisms but not diffeomorphisms of $\mathbb{C}^2$. The construction is based on realizing corks as branched covers of…
We prove standard results of group cohomology -- namely, existence of a long exact sequence, classification of torsors via the first cohomology group, Shapiro's lemma, the Hochschild-Serre spectral sequence, a decomposition of the cochain…
We consider the Birman-Hilden inclusion $\varphi\colon\mathfrak{Br}_{2g+1}\to\Gamma_{g,1}$ of the braid group into the mapping class group of an orientable surface with boundary, and prove that $\varphi$ is stably trivial in homology with…
We elaborate on the recent proposal that intersection numbers of certain cohomology classes on the moduli space of genus-zero Riemann surfaces with punctures compute tree-level scattering amplitudes in quantum field theories. The relevant…
Consider the ring $R:=\Q[\tau,\tau^{-1}]$ of Laurent polynomials in the variable $\tau$. The Artin's Pure Braid Groups (or Generalized Pure Braid Groups) act over $R,$ where the action of every standard generator is the multiplication by…
A crossed module is (A,H,d,\la) where d:A\to H is a homomorphism of groups and H acts on A, with conditions leading to a groupoid A\lcross H{\to\atop \to}H as an example of a strict 2-group. We give the corresponding notion of a quantum…
The reduced Burau representation $V_n$ of the braid group $B_n$ is obtained from the action of $B_n$ on the homology of an infinite cyclic cover of the $n$-punctured disc. In this note, we calculate $H_*(B_n;V_n)$ as a module over the…
We classify the disk solutions which are obtained from the spindle solutions from non-conformal D$p$-branes recently constructed by Boisvert and Ferrero. Then we study the global geometry of the disk solutions. We discover several common…
We show that for singular hypersurfaces, a version of their genus-zero Gromov-Witten theory may be described in terms of a direct limit of fixed point Floer cohomology groups, a construction which is more amenable to computation and easier…
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.…
We study the cohomology of spaces of string links and braids in $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n\geq 3$ using configuration space integrals. For $n>3$, these integrals give a chain map from certain diagram complexes to the deRham algebra of…
The purpose of this article is to describe the integral cohomology of the braid group B_3 and SL_2(Z) with local coefficients in a classical geometric representation given by symmetric powers of the natural symplectic representation. These…
We define bounded cohomology of $t$-discrete measured groupoids with coefficients into measurable bundles of Banach spaces. Our approach via homological algebra extends the classic theory developed by Ivanov and by Monod. As a consequence,…
The conventional topological description given by the fundamental group of nematic order parameter does not adequately explain the entangled defect line structures that have been observed in nematic colloids. We introduce a new topological…
Fix a finite group $G$ and a conjugacy invariant subset $C\subseteq G$. Let $\Sigma$ be an oriented surface, possibly with punctures. We consider the question of when two homomorphisms $\pi_1(\Sigma) \to G$ taking punctures into $C$ are…
Given a result of Herman, we provide a new elementary proof of the fact that the connected component of the group of compactly supported diffeomorphisms is perfect and hence simple. Moreover, we show that every diffeomorphism $g$, which is…
Let $D_n$ denote the $n$-punctured disk in the complex plane, where the punctures are on the real axis. An $n$-braid $\alpha$ is said to be \emph{reducible} if there exists an essential curve system $\C$ in $D_n$, called a \emph{reduction…
We show that any homologically non-trivial Dehn twist of a compact surface F with boundary is the lifting of a half-twist in the braid group B_n, with respect to a suitable branched covering p : F -> B^2. In particular, we allow the surface…
A generalization of the topological fundamental group is developed in order to exhibit a topologically complete braid group containing Artin's braid group on infinitely many strands with respect to the following notion of convergence: A…
We give a new infinite family of group homomorphisms from the braid group B_k to the symmetric group S_{mk} for all k and m \geq 2. Most known permutation representations of braids are included in this family. We prove that the…