Mathematics Program Presents
An Introduction to Knot Theory via the Jones Polynomial
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Hegeman 102
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Adam Lowrance, Vassar College
Take off your shoelaces, tie them up, and fuse the two ends together to form a continuous lace without ends. Now you have a mathematical knot. Two knots are the same if you can move, bend, and stretch one until it looks exactly like the other. Now take a flashlight and point it at your knot. The shadow of your knot on the wall is called a knot diagram or a knot projection.One common way to study knots is via their invariants, quantities that are associated with the knot that do not change regardless of how the knot is presented. One such invariant is the Jones polynomial. In this talk, we define the Jones polynomial of a knot and discuss what the Jones polynomial tells us about a knot.
For more information, call 845-758-7191, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Hegeman 102