Braid Group Knot Theory And Statistical Mechanics

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.

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:On the Combinatorics of Vassiliev Invariants (J S Birman)Solvable Methods, Link Invariants and Their Applications to Physics (T Deguchi & M Wadati)Quantum Symmetry in Conformal Field Theory by Hamiltonian Methods (L D Faddeev)Yang-Baxterization & Algebraic Structures (M L Ge, K Xue, Y S Wu)Spin Networks, Topology and Discrete Physics (L H Kauffman)Tunnel Numbers of Knots and Jones-Witten Invariants (T Kohno)Knot Invariants and Statistical Mechanics: A Physicist's Perspective (F Y Wu)and other papers Readership: Mathematical physicists. keywords:Braid Group;Knot Theory;Statistical Mechanics “It has been four years since the publication in 1989 of the previous volume bearing the same title as the present one. Enormous amounts of work have been done in the meantime. We hope the present volume will provide a summary of some of these works which are still progressing in several directions.” from the foreword by C N Yang

The interface between Physics and Mathematics has been increasingly spotlighted by the discovery of algebraic, geometric, and topological properties in physical phenomena. A profound example is the relation of noncommutative geometry, arising from algebras in mathematics, to the so-called quantum groups in the physical viewpoint. Two apparently unrelated puzzles — the solubility of some lattice models in statistical mechanics and the integrability of differential equations for special problems — are encoded in a common algebraic condition, the Yang-Baxter equation. This backdrop motivates the subject of this book, which reveals Knot Theory as a highly intuitive formalism that is intimately connected to Quantum Field Theory and serves as a basis to String Theory.This book presents a didactic approach to knots, braids, links, and polynomial invariants which are powerful and developing techniques that rise up to the challenges in String Theory, Quantum Field Theory, and Statistical Physics. It introduces readers to Knot Theory and its applications through formal and practical (computational) methods, with clarity, completeness, and minimal demand of requisite knowledge on the subject. As a result, advanced undergraduates in Physics, Mathematics, or Engineering, will find this book an excellent and self-contained guide to the algebraic, geometric, and topological tools for advanced studies in theoretical physics and mathematics.

This book is based on a set of lectures presented by the author at the NSF-CBMS Regional Conference, Applications of Operator Algebras to Knot Theory and Mathematical Physics, held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in June 1988. The audience consisted of low-dimensional topologists and operator algebraists, so the speaker attempted to make the material comprehensible to both groups. He provides an extensive introduction to the theory of von Neumann algebras and to knot theory and braid groups. The presentation follows the historical development of the theory of subfactors and the ensuing applications to knot theory, including full proofs of some of the major results. The author treats in detail the Homfly and Kauffman polynomials, introduces statistical mechanical methods on knot diagrams, and attempts an analogy with conformal field theory. Written by one of the foremost mathematicians of the day, this book will give readers an appreciation of the unexpected interconnections between different parts of mathematics and physics.