The present volume is an updated version of the book edited by C N Yang and M L Ge on the topics of braid groups and knot theory, which are related to statistical mechanics. This book is based on the 1989 volume but has new material included and new contributors.
Contents:Notes on Subfactors and Statistical Mechanics (V F R Jones)Polynomial Invariants in Knot Theory (L H Kauffman)Algebras of Loops on Surfaces, Algebras of Knots, and Quantization (V G Turaev)Quantum Groups (L Faddeev et al.)Introduction to the Yang-Baxter Equation (M Jimbo)Integrable Systems Related to Braid Groups and Yang-Baxter Equation (T Kohno)The Yang-Baxter Relation: A New Tool for Knot Theory (Y Akutsu et al.)Akutsu-Wadati Link Polynomials from Feynman-Kauffman Diagrams (M-L Ge et al.)Quantum Field Theory and the Jones Polynomial (E Witten) Readership: Mathematical physicists.
This book consists of 16 surveys on Thurston's work and its later development. The authors are mathematicians who were strongly influenced by Thurston's publications and ideas. The subjects discussed include, among others, knot theory, the topology of 3-manifolds, circle packings, complex projective structures, hyperbolic geometry, Kleinian groups, foliations, mapping class groups, Teichmüller theory, anti-de Sitter geometry, and co-Minkowski geometry. The book is addressed to researchers and students who want to learn about Thurston’s wide-ranging mathematical ideas and their impact. At the same time, it is a tribute to Thurston, one of the greatest geometers of all time, whose work extended over many fields in mathematics and who had a unique way of perceiving forms and patterns, and of communicating and writing mathematics.
In this paper a family of closed oriented 3 dimensional manifolds {[italic]M[subscript italic]n([italic]k,[italic]h)} is constructed by pasting together pairs of regions on the boundary of a 3 ball. The manifold [italic]M[subscript italic]n([italic]k,[italic]h) is a generalization of the lens space [italic]L([italic]n,1) and is closely related to the 2 bridge knot or link of type ([italic]k,[italic]h). While the work is basically geometrical, examination of [lowercase Greek]Pi1([italic]M[subscript italic]n([italic]k,[italic]h)) leads naturally to the study of "cyclic" presentations of groups. Abelianizing these presentations gives rise to a formula for the Alexander polynomials of 2 bridge knots and to a description of [italic]H1([italic]M[subscript italic]n([italic]k,[italic]h), [italic]Z) by means of circulant matrices whose entries are the coefficients of these polynomials.
The purpose of this volume and of the other volumes in the same series is to provide a collection of surveys that allows the reader to learn the important aspects of William Thurston’s heritage. Thurston’s ideas have altered the course of twentieth century mathematics, and they continue to have a significant influence on succeeding generations of mathematicians. The topics covered in the present volume include com-plex hyperbolic Kleinian groups, Möbius structures, hyperbolic ends, cone 3-manifolds, Thurston’s norm, surgeries in representation varieties, triangulations, spaces of polygo-nal decompositions and of singular flat structures on surfaces, combination theorems in the theories of Kleinian groups, hyperbolic groups and holomorphic dynamics, the dynamics and iteration of rational maps, automatic groups, and the combinatorics of right-angled Artin groups.
This book is a survey of current topics in the mathematical theory of knots. For a mathematician, a knot is a closed loop in 3-dimensional space: imagine knotting an extension cord and then closing it up by inserting its plug into its outlet. Knot theory is of central importance in pure and applied mathematics, as it stands at a crossroads of topology, combinatorics, algebra, mathematical physics and biochemistry. * Survey of mathematical knot theory * Articles by leading world authorities * Clear exposition, not over-technical * Accessible to readers with undergraduate background in mathematics
Since Poincaré's time, topologists have been most concerned with three species of manifold. The most primitive of these--the TOP manifolds--remained rather mysterious until 1968, when Kirby discovered his now famous torus unfurling device. A period of rapid progress with TOP manifolds ensued, including, in 1969, Siebenmann's refutation of the Hauptvermutung and the Triangulation Conjecture. Here is the first connected account of Kirby's and Siebenmann's basic research in this area. The five sections of this book are introduced by three articles by the authors that initially appeared between 1968 and 1970. Appendices provide a full discussion of the classification of homotopy tori, including Casson's unpublished work and a consideration of periodicity in topological surgery.