Related papers: The braid groups of the projective plane

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 investigate the braid group representations arising from categories of representations of twisted quantum doubles of finite groups. For these categories, we show that the resulting braid group representations always factor through finite…

Let $n\ge 2$. Let $VB_n$ (resp. $VP_n$) be the virtual braid group (resp. the pure virtual braid group), and let $VT_n$ (resp. $PVT_n$) be the virtual twin group (resp. the pure virtual twin group). Let $\Pi$ be one of the following…

We introduce linear representations of the universal virtual braid group $UV_n(c)$, where $n\geq 2$ and $c\geq 1$, which is a unifying framework for braid-type groups with multiple types of crossings. We classify and study its complex…

We define a family of the braid group representations via the action of the $R$-matrix (of the quasitriangular extension) of the restricted quantum $\mathfrak{sl}(2)$ on a tensor power of a simple projective module. This family is an…

Braided groups and braided matrices are novel algebraic structures living in braided or quasitensor categories. As such they are a generalization of super-groups and super-matrices to the case of braid statistics. Here we construct braided…

We study the Gassner representation of the pure braid group $P_n$ by considering its restriction to a free subgroup $F$. The kernel of the restriction is shown to lie in the subgroup $[\Gamma^3 F,\Gamma^2 F]$, sharpening a result of…

These are Lecture Notes of a course given by the author at the French-Spanish School "Tresses in Pau", held in Pau (France) in October 2009. It is basically an introduction to distinct approaches and techniques that can be used to show…

We exhibit a new presentation of the (equilateral) Von Dyck groups $D(2,3,n), \ n\ge 3$, in terms of two generators of order $n$ satisfying three relations, one of which is Artin's braid relation. By dropping the relation which fixes the…

For a general surface $M$ and an arbitrary braid $\alpha$ from the surface braid group $B_{n-1}(M)$ we study the system of equations $d_1\beta=\cdots=d_{n}\beta=\alpha, $ where operation $d_i$ is deleting of $i$-th strand. We obtain that if…

This paper upbuilds the theoretical framework of orbit braids in $M\times I$ by making use of the orbit configuration space $F_G(M,n)$, which enriches the theory of ordinary braids, where $M$ is a connected topological manifold of dimension…

In a previous work [11], the author considered a representation of the braid group \rho: B_n\to GL_m(\Bbb Z[q^{\pm 1},t^{\pm 1}]) (m=n(n-1)/2), and proved it to be faithful for n=4. Bigelow [3] then proved the same representation to be…

We develop general techniques for computing the fundamental group of the configuration space of $n$ identical particles, possessing a generic internal structure, moving on a manifold $M$. This group generalizes the $n$-string braid group of…

We prove that, for $n\geq 3$, the minimal dimension of a model of the classifying space of the full braid group $B_n$, and of the pure braid group $P_n$, with respect to the family of virtually cyclic groups is $n$.

We show that the crystallographic braid group $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$ embeds naturally in the group of unrestricted virtual braids $UVB_n$, we give new proofs of known results about the torsion elements of $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$, and we characterise the…

We consider the topological complexity of subgroups of Artin's braid group consisting of braids whose associated permutations lie in some specified subgroup of the symmetric group. We give upper and lower bounds for the topological…

Let n be greater than or equal to 3. We study the quotient group B\_n/[P n,P\_n] of the Artin braid group B\_n by the commutator subgroup of its pure Artin braid group P\_n. We show that B\_n/[P n,P\_n] is a crystallographic group, and in…

The group described in this paper appeared while studying fundamental groups of complements of branch curves. It turned out that a certain quotient of the braid group acts on those fundamental groups and studying this action is essential…

Let n\geq 3. We classify the finite groups which are realised as subgroups of the sphere braid group B_n(S^2). Such groups must be of cohomological period 2 or 4. Depending on the value of n, we show that the following are the maximal…

A new method for deriving universal \v{R} matrices from braid group representation is discussed. In this case, universal \v{R} operators can be defined and expressed in terms of products of braid group generators. The advantage of this…