Related papers: The Bennequin number of n-trivial closed n-braids …

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…

Given a finite quandle $Q$, we study the average number of $Q$-colorings of the closure of a random braid in $B_n$ as $n$ varies. In particular we show that this number coincides with some polynomial $P_Q\in \mathbb{Q}[x]$ for $n\gg 0$. The…

We take a close look at a classical magic trick performed with a string, where a trivial knot is seemingly isotoped into a trefoil, and generalize it to a family of magic tricks for transforming the unknot into other knots. We encode such a…

We give a classification of irreducible metabelian representations from a knot group into SL(n,C) and GL(n,C). If the homology of the n-fold branched cover of the knot is finite, we show that every irreducible metabelian SL(n,C)…

We introduce a certain class of link diagrams, which includes all closed braid diagrams. We show a generalized version of K\'alm\'an's full-twist formula for the HOMFLY polynomial in the class.

We study positive braid knots (the knots in the three-sphere realized as positive braid closures) through the lens of the L-space conjecture. This conjecture predicts that if $K$ is a non-trivial positive braid knot, then for all $r <…

Birman-Menasco proved that there are finitely many knots having a given genus and braid index. We give a quantitative version of Birman-Menasco finiteness theorem, an estimate of the crossing number of knots in terms of genus and braid…

Let $D$ be a knot diagram, and let ${\mathcal D}$ denote the set of diagrams that can be obtained from $D$ by crossing exchanges. If $D$ has $n$ crossings, then ${\mathcal D}$ consists of $2^n$ diagrams. A folklore argument shows that at…

Let $U_q(\hat{\cal G})$ be a quantized affine Lie algebra. It is proven that the universal R-matrix $R$ of $U_q(\hat{\cal G})$ satisfies the celebrated conjugation relation $R^\dagger=TR$ with $T$ the usual twist map. As applications, braid…

We show that the only irreducible three-manifold with positive first Betti number and Heegaard Floer homology of rank two is homeomorphic to zero-framed surgery on the trefoil. We classify links whose branched double cover gives rise to…

For a tree $T$ and a positive integer $n$, let $B_nT$ denote the $n$-strand braid group on $T$. We use discrete Morse theory techniques to show that the cohomology ring $H^*(B_nT)$ is encoded by an explicit abstract simplicial complex…

We prove that there are no irreducible representations of $B_n$ of dimension $n+1$ for $n\geq 10.$

We show that there are only finitely many homogeneous links whose Conway polynomial has any given degree. Using this we give an example of an inhomogeneous, fibred knot. Secondly, we show how to compute the monodromy of a homogeneous link…

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 present an elementary proof of the generalization of the $k$-bonacci Binet formula, a closed form calculation of the $k$-bonacci numbers using the roots of the characteristic polynomial of the $k$-bonacci recursion.

We present the formula for the number of monic irreducible polynomials of degree $n$ over the finite field $\mathbb F_q$ where the coefficients of $x^{n-1}$ and $x$ vanish for $n\ge3$. In particular, we give a relation between rational…

We study deformations of graded braided bialgebras using cohomological methods. In particular, we show that many examples of Nichols algebras, including the finite-dimensional ones arising in the Andruskiewitsch-Schneider program of…

We show that for every positive integer n there is a simple closed curve in the plane (which can be taken infinitely differentiable and convex) which has exactly n inscribed squares.

Let $M$ be a closed oriented surface of genus $g\ge 1$, let $B_n(M)$ be the braid group of $M$ on $n$ strings, and let $SB_n(M)$ be the corresponding singular braid monoid. Our purpose in this paper is to prove that the desingularization…

This paper investigates the number of monic integer polynomials of degree $n$ whose roots are all real and positive. We establish an asymptotic formula for the case of fixed trace by estimating the number of integer sequences satisfying…