Related papers: Ropes, fractions, and moduli spaces
In this paper we describe how representation theory of groups can be used to shorten the derivation of two loop partition functions in string theory, giving an intrinsic description of modular forms appearing in the results of D'Hoker and…
In many applications, the two-dimensional trajectories of fluid particles are available, but little is known about the underlying flow. Oceanic floats are a clear example. To extract quantitative information from such data, one can measure…
In this paper we present recent results toward the computation of the HOMFLYPT skein module of the lens spaces $L(p,1)$, $\mathcal{S}\left(L(p,1) \right)$, via braids. Our starting point is the knot theory of the solid torus ST and the…
Over-then-Under (OU) tangles are oriented tangles whose strands travel through all of their over crossings before any under crossings. In this paper we discuss the idea of gliding: an algorithm by which any tangle diagram could be brought…
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…
Braid combing is a procedure defined by Emil Artin to solve the word problem in braid groups for the first time. It is well-known to have exponential complexity. In this paper, we use the theory of straight line programs to give a…
The affine Hecke algebra $\dot H_n$ of type $A$ is often presented as a quotient of the braid algebra of $n$-braids in the annulus. This leads to diagrammatic representations in terms of braids in the annulus, subject to a quadratic…
We give a 'recursive' formula (in terms of reducible limits) for counting rational curves on a variety moving in any sufficiently large and well-behaved family. Our approach is completely elementary and makes no use of moduli spaces for…
These are (not updated) notes from the lectures I gave in St.Petersburg in July of 2001. Their goal is to give an expository account of the proof of Kontsevich's combinatorial formula for intersections on moduli spaces of curves following…
This is a short introduction to categories with some emphasis on coalgebras. We start from introducing basic notions (categories, functors, natural transformations), move to Kleisli tripels and monads, with a short discussion of monads in…
Branch points of a real 2-surface S in a 4-manifold M generalize the branch points of complex curves in complex surfaces: for example, they can occur as singularities of minimal surfaces. We investigate such a branch point p when S is…
We explore a physical model of ordered sums of integers as trains of rods. The trains for a fixed, possibly infinite, set of rod lengths naturally correspond to nodes in a tree; relations among finite linear recursions encoded in the…
Traditionally, knot theorists have considered projections of knots where there are two strands meeting at every crossing. A triple crossing is a crossing where three strands meet at a single point, such that each strand bisects the…
Conway and Doyle have claimed to be able to divide by three. We attempt to replicate their achievement and fail. In the process, we get tangled up in some shoes and socks and forget how to multiply.
We consider a class of cut-and-project sets $\Lambda = \Lambda_F \times \zahl$ in the plane. Let $L=\Lambda+w\real$, $w\in\real^2$, be a countable union of parallel lines. Then either (1) $L$ is a discrete family of lines, (2) $L$ is a…
In this thesis we probe various interactions between toric geometry and string theory. First, the notion of a top was introduced by Candelas and Font as a useful tool to investigate string dualities. These objects torically encode the local…
We consider braids on $m+n$ strands, such that the first $m$ strands are trivially fixed. We denote the set of all such braids by $B_{m,n}$. Via concatenation $B_{m,n}$ acquires a group structure. The objective of this paper is to find a…
We report a rigorous theory to show the origin of the unexpected periodic behavior seen in the consecutive differences between prime numbers. We also check numerically our findings to ensure that they hold for finite sequences of primes,…
The recent proof by Bigelow and Krammer that the braid groups are linear opens the possibility of applications to the study of knots and links. It was proved by the first author and Menasco that any closed braid representative of the unknot…
We consider convex trace functions $\Phi_{p,q,s} = Trace[ (A^{q/2}B^p A^{q/2})^s]$ where $A$ and $B$ are positive $n\times n$ matrices and ask when these functions are convex or concave. We also consider operator convexity/concavity of…