arXiv research

This paper proposes for every $n$, linear time reductions of the word and conjugacy problems on the braid groups $B_n$ to the corresponding problems on the braid monoids $B_n^+$ and moreover only using positive words representations.

One of the most interesting questions about a group is if its word problem can be solved and how. The word problem in the braid group is of particular interest to topologists, algebraists and geometers, and is the target of intensive current research. We look at the braid group from a topological point of view (rather …

Study groups formed by words in braid monoid.

We show a simple and easily implementable solution to the word problem for virtual braid groups.

New algorithms solve word and conjugacy problems in braid group B3.

We give a solution to the word problem for the singular braid monoid SB_n. The complexity of the algorithm is quadratic in the product of the word length and the number of the singular generators in the word. Furthermore we algebraically reprove a result of Fenn, Keyman and Rourke that the monoid embeds into a group an…

The study finds conditions for positive braid knots to be Gordian adjacent and explores their unknotting sequences.

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…

This paper is concerned with detecting when a closed braid and its axis are 'mutually braided' in the sense of Rudolph. It deals with closed braids which are fibred links, the simplest case being closed braids which present the unknot. The geometric condition for mutual braiding refers to the existence of a close contr…

After defining reduced minimum braid word and criteria for a braid family representative, different braid family representatives are derived, and a correspondence between them and families of knots and links given in Conway notation is established.

The depth of a link measures the minimum height of a resolving tree for the link whose leaves are all unlinks. We show that the depth of the closure of a strictly positive braid word is the length of the word minus the number of distinct letters.

New findings on algebraic structure of hyperbolic graph braid groups.

For $n \geq 2$ we describe an $O(l^3n)$-time algorithm that determines if a length $l$ virtual braid word in the standard presentation of the virtual braid group ${\mathcal VB}_n$ represents the trivial virtual braid.

A method to convert pretzel links into braids.

We prove that the word problem in the mapping class group of the once-punctured surface of genus g has complexity O(|w|^2 g for |w| > log(g) where |w| is the length of the word in a (standard) set of generators. The corresponding bound in the case of the closed surface is O(|w|^2 g^2). We also carry out the same method…

Braid combing is a procedure defined by Emil Artin to solve the word problem in braid groups for the first time. It is well-known to have exponential complexity. In this paper, we use the theory of straight line programs to give a polynomial algorithm which performs braid combing. This procedure can be applied to braid…

We show that for any given n, there exists a sequence of words a_k in the generators sigma_1, ... sigma_{n-1} of the braid group B_n, representing the identity element of B_n, such that the number of braid relations of the form sigma_i sigma_{i+1} sigma_i = sigma_{i+1} sigma_i sigma_{i+1} needed to pass from a_k to the…

In the present paper, we construct a monomorphism from (Artin) pure braid group $PB_{n}$ into a group, which is `bigger' than $PB_{n}$. Roughly speaking, this mapping is defined on words of braids by adding `new generators' between generators of $PB_{n}$. By this mapping we can get a new invariant for classical braids.…

In this paper we give new presentations of the braid groups and the pure braid groups of a closed surface. We also give an algorithm to solve the word problem in these groups, using the given presentations.

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.

A large class of positive finite presentations of the braid groups is found and studied. It is shown that no presentations but known exceptions in this class have the property that equivalent braid words are also equivalent under positive relations.

We study the structure of the virtual braid group. It is shown that the virtual braid group is a semi--direct product of the virtual pure braid group and the symmetric group. Also, it is shown that the virtual pure braid group is a semi--direct product of free groups. From these results we obtain a normal form of words…

We begin with a review of the notion of a braid group. We then discuss some known solutions to decision problems in braid groups. We then move on to proving new results in braid group algorithmics. We offer a quick solution to the generalized word problem in braid groups, in the special case of cyclic subgroups. We ill…

The Helon model identifies Standard Model quarks and leptons with certain framed braids joined together at both ends by a connecting node (disk). These surfaces with boundary are called braided 3-belts (or simply belts). Twisting and braiding of ribbons composing braided 3-belts are interchangeable, and it was shown in…

A new presentation of the $n$-string braid group $B_n$ is studied. Using it, a new solution to the word problem in $B_n$ is obtained which retains most of the desirable features of the Garside-Thurston solution, and at the same time makes possible certain computational improvements. We also give a related solution to t…

We show that a certain linear representation of the singular braid monoid on three strands is faithful. Furthermore we will give a second - group theoretically motivated - solution to the word problem in this monoid.

We show that 3-braid links with given (non-zero) Alexander or Jones polynomial are finitely many, and can be effectively determined. We classify among closed 3-braids strongly quasipositive and fibered ones, and show that 3-braid links have a unique incompressible Seifert surface. We also classify the positive braid wo…

We propose an algorithm for deciding whether a given braid is pseudo-Anosov, reducible, or periodic. The algorithm is based on Garside's weighted decomposition and is polynomial-time in the word-length of an input braid. Moreover, a reduction system of circles can be found completely if the input is a certain type of r…

In the paper we give a survey of rather new notions and results which generalize classical ones in the theory of braids. Among such notions are various inverse monoids of partial braids. We also observe presentations different from standard Artin presentation for generalizations of braids. Namely, we consider presentat…

For finite reflection groups of types A and B, we determine the diameter of the graph whose vertices are reduced words for the longest element and whose edges are braid relations. This is deduced from a more general theorem that applies to supersolvable hyperplane arrangements.

Defect of knot polynomials remains invariant under certain braid substitutions.

We study the Morton-Franks-Williams inequality for closures of simple braids (also known as positive permutation braids). This allows to prove, in a simple way, that the set of simple braids is a orthonormal basis for the inner product of the Hecke algebra of the braid group defined by Kálmán, who first obtained this r…

Solves double coset problem for braid group H_n.

Inverse braid monoid describes a structure on braids where the number of strings is not fixed. So, some strings of initial $n$ may be deleted. In the paper we show that many properties and objects based on braid groups may be extended to the inverse braid monoids. Namely we prove an inclusion into a monoid of partial m…

We suggest a new algorithm for finding a canonical representative of a given braid, and also for the harder problem of finding a $σ_1$-consistent representative. We conjecture that the algorithm is quadratic-time. We present numerical evidence for this conjecture, and prove two results: (1) The algorithm terminates in …

For every group genetic code with finite number of generating and at most with one defining relation we introduce the braid group of this genetic code. This construction includes the braid group of Euclidean plane, the braid groups of closed orientable surfaces, B type groups of Artin-Brieskorn, and allow us to study a…

Fibonacci anyons are attractive for use in topological quantum computation because any unitary transformation of their state space can be approximated arbitrarily accurately by braiding. However there is no known braid that entangles two qubits without leaving the space spanned by the two qubits. In other words, there …

We give formulae for the first homology of the $n$-braid group and the pure 2-braid group over a finite graph in terms of graph theoretic invariants. As immediate consequences, a graph is planar if and only if the first homology of the $n$-braid group over the graph is torsion-free and the conjectures about the first h…

The aim of the present note is to construct invariants of the Artin braid group valued in $G_{N}^{2}$, and further study of groups related to $G_{n}^{3}$. In the groups $G_{n}^{2}$, the word problem is solved; these groups are much simpler than $G_{n}^{3}$.

We use the Birman-Ko-Lee presentation of the braid group to show that all closures of strongly quasipositive braids whose normal form contains a positive power of the dual Garside element $δ$ are fibered. We classify links which admit such a braid representative in geometric terms as boundaries of plumbings of positive…

Improved algorithm for modular links provides upper volume bounds.

In this paper, we give a proof of the result of Brandenbursky and Kȩdra which says that the commutator subgroup of the infinite braid group admits stably unbounded norms. Moreover, we observe the norms which we constructed are equivalent to the biinvariant word norm studied by Brandenbursky and Kȩdra.

Virtual singular braids embed in a group with normal form.

Algorithm finds plat-equivalence words for genus 2 3-manifolds.

Invariants measure letter interleaving in groups, detecting group dimensions.

We give an explicit geometric argument that Artin's braid group $B_n$ is right-orderable. The construction is elementary, natural, and leads to a new, effectively computable, canonical form for braids which we call left-consistent canonical form. The left-consistent form of a braid which is positive (respectively negat…

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 results in braid groups. Using these techniques we provide several proofs of well kn…

Study on virtual singular braid groups with algebraic properties and homomorphisms.