arXiv research

Invariants defined for braid systems under Hurwitz equivalence.

Machine learning classifies braids and discovers new invariants.

New algebraic structure helps distinguish braids.

New polynomial invariants derived from birack and switch structures.

New braid invariant derived from octagon solutions.

Invariants of braids found using shear coordinates in hyperbolic geometry.

A new invariant for braids and knots uses secants and trisecants.

Paper defines a new braid invariant and shows it's commutative.

Single-colored ADO-3 invariant matches Links-Gould polynomial for 5-braid closures.

A new invariant for pure braids is defined and shown not to be trivial.

We define invariants of braids rather than invariants of conjugacy classes of braids. For any pure three-braid we give effective upper and lower bounds for these invariants. This is done in terms of a natural syllable decomposition of the word representing the image of the braid in the braid group modulo its center. Th…

We define Dynnikov coordinates on virtual braid groups. We prove that they are faithful invariants of virtual 2-braids, and present evidence that they are also very powerful invariants for general virtual braids.

New braid representations using virtual knot theory.

We prove that for a fixed braid index there are only finitely many possible shapes of the annular Rasmussen $d_t$ invariant of braid closures. Applying the same perspective to the knot Floer invariant $Υ_K(t)$, we show that for a fixed concordance genus of $K$ there are only finitely many possibilities for $Υ_K(t)$. Fo…

Research on knots, braids, and their invariants.

The paper calculates a knot invariant for 3-braid knots.

Paper extends danceability concept to knots with braid index bound.

Paper constructs braid invariants using tropical Ptolemy equation.

Positive braids linked to knot invariants and geometric monodromy groups.

We show that Vassiliev invariants separate braids on a closed oriented surface, and we exhibit an universal Vassiliev invariant for these braids in terms of chord diagrams labeled by elements of the fundamental group of the considered surface.

New knot invariant from 3-braids and 6-valent graphs.

A closed braid naturally gives rise to a transverse link in the standard contact 3-space. We study the effect of the dynamical properties of the braid monodromy, such as right-veering, on the contact-topological properties of the transverse link and its transverse invariants in knot Floer and Khovanov homologies. In pa…

It is shown how Fiedler's `small state-sum' invariant for a braid can be calculated from the 2-variable Alexander polynomial of the link which consists of the closed braid together with the braid axis.

We show that two knots have matching Vassiliev invariants of order less than n if and only if they are equivalent modulo the nth group of the lower central series of some pure braid group, thus characterizing Vassiliev's knot invariants in terms of the structure of the braid groups. We also prove some results about kno…

We describe a new method for combinatorially computing the transverse invariant in knot Floer homology. Previous work of the authors and Stone used braid diagrams to combinatorially compute knot Floer homology of braid closures. However, that approach was unable to explicitly identify the invariant of transverse links …

Paper uses Long-Moody construction for new braid group representations.

We show that there is a family of pseudo-Anosov braids independently parameterized by the braid index and the (canonical) length whose smallest conjugacy invariant sets grow exponentially in the braid index and linearly in the length and conclude that the conjugacy problem remains exponential in the braid index under t…

New method computes knot invariants using free group automorphisms.

Finite type invariants (also known as Vassiliev invariants) of pure braids are considered from a group-theoretic point of view. New results include a construction of a universal invariant with integer coefficients based on the Magnus expansion of a free group and a calculation of numbers of independent invariants of ea…

Innovative warping labeling for twisted knots and braids.

Defect of knot polynomials remains invariant under certain braid substitutions.

Study Agol cycles for pseudo-Anosov 3-braids.

Minimum braids are a complete invariant of knots and links. This paper defines minimum braids, describes how they can be generated, presents tables for knots up to ten crossings and oriented links up to nine crossings, and uses minimum braids to study graph trees, amphicheirality, unknotting numbers, and periodic table…

New link invariants derived from $L^2$-Burau maps of braids.

Formulas for tau and epsilon concordance invariants of braided satellite knots

We introduce new polynomial isotopy invariants for closed braids. They are constructed as polynomial valued {\em Gauss diagram 1-cocycles} evaluated on the full rotation of the closed braid $\hat β$ around the core of the corresponding solid torus. They can be calculated with polynomial complexity with respect to the b…

We investigate two "categorified" braid conjugacy class invariants, one coming from Khovanov homology and the other from Heegaard Floer homology. We prove that each yields a solution to the word problem but not the conjugacy problem in the braid group.

We use Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó's Upsilon-invariant to provide bounds on cobordisms between knots that `contain full-twists'. In particular, we recover and generalize a classical consequence of the Morton-Franks-Williams inequality for knots: positive braids that contain a positive full-twist realize the braid inde…

Let $φ: S^1\times D^2\to S^1$ be the natural projection. An oriented knot $K\hookrightarrow V = S^1\times D^2$ is called an almost closed braid if the restriction of $φ$ to K has exactly two (non-degenerate) critical points (and K is a closed braid if the restriction of $φ$ has no critical points at all). We introduce …

In 1987 Bieri, Neumann and Strebel introduced a geometric invariant for discrete groups. In this article we compute and explicitly describe the BNS-invariant for the pure braid groups.

Study improves HOMFLY polynomial coefficients for positive braid links.

In this paper we define and present a simple combinatorial formula for a 3-variable Laurent polynomial invariant of conjugacy classes in Artin braid group $B_m$. We show that this Laurent polynomial satisfies the Conway skein relation and its coefficients are Vassiliev invariants of braids.

We prove that there is no functorial universal finite type invariant for braids in $Σ\times I$ if the genus of $Σ$ is positive.

fkcompute calculates a knot invariant from a braid presentation.

In the first half of the paper we construct a Morse-type theory on certain spaces of braid diagrams. We define a topological invariant of closed positive braids which is correlated with the existence of invariant sets of parabolic flows defined on discretized braid spaces. Parabolic flows, a type of one-dimensional lat…

Delta finite-type invariants are defined analogously to finite-type invariants, using delta moves instead of crossing changes. We show that they are closely related to the lower central series of the commutator subgroup of the pure braid group.

In this paper we construct effective invariants for braid monodromy of affine curves. We also prove that, for some curves, braid monodromy determines their topology. We apply this result to find a pair of curves with conjugate equations in a number field but which do not admit any orientation-preserving homeomorphism.

We define an invariant of tangles and framed tangles given a finite crossed module and a pair of functions, called a Reidemeister pair, satisfying natural properties. We give several examples of Reidemeister pairs derived from racks, quandles, rack and quandle cocycles, 2-crossed modules and braided crossed modules. We…