Related papers: Unknot Recognition Through Quantifier Elimination

It is a major unsolved problem as to whether unknot recognition - that is, testing whether a given closed loop in R^3 can be untangled to form a plain circle - has a polynomial time algorithm. In practice, trivial knots (which can be…

In this article we discuss applications of neural networks to recognising knots and, in particular, to the unknotting problem. One of motivations for this study is to understand how neural networks work on the example of a problem for which…

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…

We explore the application of automated reasoning techniques to unknot detection, a classical problem of computational topology. We adopt a two-pronged experimental approach, using a theorem prover to try to establish a positive result…

The classical knot recognition problem is the problem of determining whether the virtual knot represented by a given diagram is classical. We prove that this problem is in NP, and we give an exponential time algorithm for the problem.

This is a survey paper on algorithms for solving problems in 3-dimensional topology. In particular, it discusses Haken's approach to the recognition of the unknot, and recent variations.

We introduce natural language processing into the study of knot theory, as made natural by the braid word representation of knots. We study the UNKNOT problem of determining whether or not a given knot is the unknot. After describing an…

Our goal is to one day take a photo of a knot and have a phone automatically recognize it. In this expository work, we explain a strategy to approximate this goal, using a mixture of modern machine learning methods (in particular…

We analyze the connections between the mathematical theory of knots and quantum physics by addressing a number of algorithmic questions related to both knots and braid groups. Knots can be distinguished by means of `knot invariants', among…

We show that the problem of recognizing that a knot diagram represents a specific torus knot, or any torus knot at all, is in the complexity class ${\sf NP} \cap {\sf co\text{-}NP}$, assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis. We also show…

We describe an algorithm that recognizes some (perhaps all) intrinsically knotted (IK) graphs, and can help find knotless embeddings for graphs that are not IK. The algorithm, implemented as a Mathematica program, has already been used by…

Given a tame knot K presented in the form of a knot diagram, we show that the problem of determining whether K is knotted is in the complexity class NP, assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis (GRH). In other words, there exists a…

The topological underpinnings are presented for a new algorithm which answers the question: `Is a given knot the unknot?' The algorithm uses the braid foliation technology of Bennequin and of Birman and Menasco. The approach is to consider…

In a previous paper (q-alg/9501022) we suggested some algorithms that could be useful in solving the problem of knot classification. Here we continue this discussion by answering questions raised in that paper and by commenting on practical…

In their paper `A new algorithm for recognizing the unknot', in Geometry and Topology', 2 (1998) n. 9, 175-220, the first author and Michael Hirsch presented a then new algorithm for recognizing the unknot. The first part of the algorithm…

Knotted molecules occur naturally and are designed by scientists to gain special biological and material properties. Understanding and utilizing knotting require efficient methods to recognize and generate knotted structures, which are…

This paper gives infinitely many examples of unknot diagrams that are hard, in the sense that the diagrams need to be made more complicated by Reidemeister moves before they can be simplified. In order to construct these diagrams, we prove…

We construct knot invariants categorifying the quantum knot variants for all representations of quantum groups. We show that these invariants coincide with previous invariants defined by Khovanov for sl_2 and sl_3 and by Mazorchuk-Stroppel…

These notes present two normal surface theory algorithms to detect the unknot and use the split-link algorithm to prove that the figure-eight knot is knotted.

Quantum machine learning aspires to overcome intractability that currently limits its applicability to practical problems. However, quantum machine learning itself is limited by low effective dimensions achievable in state-of-the-art…