Related papers: Configuration spaces and braid groups on graphs in…
These expository notes are dedicated to the study of the topology of configuration spaces of manifolds. We give detailed computations of many invariants, including the fundamental group of the configuration spaces of $\mathbb{R}^2$, the…
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 unordered configuration space of $n$ points on a graph $\Gamma,$ denoted here by $UC^n(\Gamma),$ can be viewed as the space of all configurations of $n$ unlabeled robots on a system of one-dimensional tracks, which is interpreted as a…
The topological model for quantum computation is an inherently fault-tolerant model built on anyons in topological phases of matter. A key role is played by the braid group, and in this survey we focus on a selection of ways that the…
The kth finite subset space of a topological space X is the space exp_k X of non-empty finite subsets of X of size at most k, topologised as a quotient of X^k. The construction is a homotopy functor and may be regarded as a union of…
For a smooth manifold M obtained as an embedding torus, A U Cx[-1,1], we consider the ordered configuration space F_k(M) of k distinct points in M. We show that there is a homotopical cubical resolution of F_k(M) defined from the…
The ability of a soft robot to perform specific tasks is determined by its contact configuration, and transitioning between configurations is often necessary to reach a desired position or manipulate an object. Based on this observation, we…
The graph braid group of a complete bipartite graph is the fundamental group of a configuration space of points on the graph, which is a CAT(0) cube complex. We combine an analysis of the topology of links of vertices in this complex, the…
The space of unordered configurations of distinct points in the plane is aspherical, with Artin's braid group as its fundamental group. Remarkably enough, the space of ordered configurations of distinct points on the real projective line,…
We study an elementary problem of the topological robotics: collective motion of a set of $n$ distinct particles which one has to move from an initial configuration to a final configuration, with the requirement that no collisions occur in…
We establish a strong, geometric lower bound on the (sequential) topological complexity of the unordered configuration spaces of a general graph. As an application, we show that, for most graphs, the topological complexity eventually…
Safe autonomous navigation in a priori unknown environments is an essential skill for mobile robots to reliably and adaptively perform diverse tasks (e.g., delivery, inspection, and interaction) in unstructured cluttered environments.…
We give a method for constructing an interactive art piece which illustrates two different definitions of the braid groups, along with their faithful action on the free group. The box also demonstrates how all motions of points in the plane…
We describe the fundamental groups of ordered and unordered k point sets in complex projective space of dimension n generating a projective subspace of dimension i. We apply these to study connectivity of more complicated configurations of…
We design an algorithm writing down presentations of graph braid groups. Generators are represented in terms of actual motions of robots moving without collisions on a given graph. A key ingredient is a new motion planning algorithm whose…
Starting from context-free inverse graphs, we introduce a new class of groups and study their structural properties. We establish closure properties, show that their co-word problems are context-free, analyze torsion elements, and realize…
A finite simple graph $\Gamma$ determines a quotient $P_\Gamma$ of the pure braid group, called a graphic arrangement group. We analyze homomorphisms of these groups defined by deletion of sets of vertices, using methods developed in prior…
We prove Farber's conjecture on the stable topological complexity of configuration spaces of graphs. The conjecture follows from a general lower bound derived from recent insights into the topological complexity of aspherical spaces. Our…
We compute small rational models for configuration spaces of points on oriented surfaces, as right modules over the framed little disks operad. We do this by splitting these surfaces in unions of several handles. We first describe rational…
We survey and expand on the work of Segal, Milgram and the author on the topology of spaces of maps of positive genus curves into $n$-th complex projective space, $n\geq 1$ (in both the holomorphic and continuous categories). Both based and…