Related papers: Knots, Braids and Hedgehogs from the Eikonal Equat…
It is known that the fundamental group homomorphism $\pi_1(T^2) \to \pi_1(S^3\setminus K)$ induced by the inclusion of the boundary torus into the complement of a knot $K$ in $S^3$ is a complete knot invariant. Many classical invariants of…
We consider the space of all configurations of finitely many (potentially nested) circles in the plane. We prove that this space is aspherical, and compute the fundamental group of each of its connected components. It turns out these…
The deep connection among braids, knots and topological physics has provided valuable insights into studying topological states in various physical systems. However, identifying distinct braid groups and knot topology embedded in…
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…
Using skein valued holomorphic curve counting techniques, we give a flow loop formula for the skein valued partition function of the Lagrangian knot complement of a fibered knot (of the $A$-model open topological strings with Lagrangian…
We construct an algebraic model for the Chas-Sullivan product and the Goresky-Hingston coproduct in string topology. The construction takes as its initial input a simplicial complex equipped with a local pairing on its simplicial chains,…
For the bosonic string on the torus we compute boundary states describing branes with not trivial homology class in presence of constant closed and open background. It turns out that boundary states with non trivial open background…
We discuss various aspects of "braid spaces'' or configuration spaces of unordered points on manifolds. First we describe how the homology of these spaces is affected by puncturing the underlying manifold, hence extending some results of…
The topological description of $2D$ string theory at the self-dual radius is studied in the algebro-geometrical formulation of the $A_{k+1}$ topological models at $k=-3$. Genus zero correlators of tachyons and their gravitational…
Arone and the second author showed that when the dimensions are in the stable range, the rational homology and homotopy of the high dimensional anologues of spaces of long knots can be calculated as the homology of a direct sum of finite…
Let S be a finite union of (pairwise disjoint but possibly knotted and linked) closed curves and tubes in the round sphere S^3 or in the flat torus T^3. In the case of the torus, S is further assumed to be contained in a contractible subset…
We consider a generalization of the Nielsen-Olesen ansatz, in an abelian-Higgs model with externally coupled charge, which describes strings with twisted magnetic flux lines in the vortex core. The solution does not possess cylindrical…
In this paper, we give an explicit construction of dynamical systems (defined within a solid torus) containing any knot (or link) and arbitrarily knotted chaos. The first is achieved by expressing the knots in terms of braids, defining a…
A precise formula for the elliptic genus of three E-strings is presented. The related refined free energy coincides with the result calculated from topological string on local half K3 Calabi-Yau threefold up to genus twelve. The elliptic…
In a tachyon model proposed by Minahan and Zwiebach and derived in the boundary string field theory, we construct various new solutions which correspond to nontrivial brane configurations in string theory. Our solutions include Dp-D(p-2)…
The primary objects of study in the ``knot theory of complex plane curves'' are C-links: links (or knots) cut out of a 3-sphere in the complex plane by complex plane transverse and totally tangential. Transverse C-links are naturally…
We reconsider the problem of anyons on higher genus surfaces by embedding them in three dimensional space. From a concrete realization based on three dimensional flux tubes bound to charges moving on the surface, we explicitly derive all…
A simple analytical way of creating superpositions of Bessel-Gaussian light beams with knotted nodal lines is proposed. It is based on the equivalence between the paraxial wave equation and the two-dimensional Schr\"odinger equation for a…
Using Kauffman's model of flat knotted ribbons, we demonstrate how all regular polygons of at least seven sides can be realised by ribbon constructions of torus knots. We calculate length to width ratios for these constructions thereby…
The 2-matrix model has been introduced to study Ising model on random surfaces. Since then, the link between matrix models and combinatorics of discrete surfaces has strongly tightened. This manuscript aims to investigate these deep links…