Knots Braids And Mobius Strips Particle Physics And The Geometry Of Elementarity An Alternative View

Elementary particles in this book exist as Solitons in-and-of the fabric of spacetime itself. As such they are characterized by their geometry, that is their topology and configuration which lead directly to their physical attributes and behavior as well as to a simplification and reduction of assumptions and the importation of parameter values. The emphasis of the book is thus on that geometry, the algebraic geometry associated with taxonomical issues and the differential geometry that determines the physics as well as on simplifying the results. In itself, however, the process of assembling and developing what eventually went into the book has been a singularly rewarding journey. Along the way some fascinating insights and connections to known physical attributes and theories emerge, some predictable but others unbidden and even unanticipated. The book is intended to summarize that journey in a way that, readers with a range of backgrounds will find interesting and provocative. Connections to other physical theories and subjects are also discussed. A most gratifying development is the emergence of a unifying principle underlying the epistemological structure of not only the elementary particles but of such diverse fields as Radar, Quantum mechanics, Biology, Cosmology and the Philosophy of science.

Elementary particles in this book exist as Solitons in-and-of the fabric of spacetime itself. As such they are characterized by their geometry, that is their topology and configuration which lead directly to their physical attributes and behavior as well as to a simplification and reduction of assumptions and the importation of parameter values. The emphasis of the book is thus on that geometry, the algebraic geometry associated with taxonomical issues and the differential geometry that determines the physics as well as on simplifying the results. In itself, however, the process of assembling and developing what eventually went into the book has been a singularly rewarding journey. Along the way some fascinating insights and connections to known physical attributes and theories emerge, some predictable but others unbidden and even unanticipated. The book is intended to summarize that journey in a way that, readers with a range of backgrounds will find interesting and provocative. Connections to other physical theories and subjects are also discussed. A most gratifying development is the emergence of a unifying principle underlying the epistemological structure of not only the elementary particles but of such diverse fields as Radar, Quantum mechanics, Biology, Cosmology and the Philosophy of science.

This volume is a collection of research papers devoted to the study of relationships between knot theory and the foundations of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and psychology. Included are reprints of the work of Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson) on the 19th century theory of vortex atoms, reprints of modern papers on knotted flux in physics and in fluid dynamics and knotted wormholes in general relativity. It also includes papers on Witten's approach to knots via quantum field theory and applications of this approach to quantum gravity and the Ising model in three dimensions. Other papers discuss the topology of RNA folding in relation to invariants of graphs and Vassiliev invariants, the entanglement structures of polymers, the synthesis of molecular Mobius strips and knotted molecules. The book begins with an article on the applications of knot theory to the foundations of mathematics and ends with an article on topology and visual perception. This volume will be of immense interest to all workers interested in new possibilities in the uses of knots and knot theory. Contents:Knot Logic (L H Kauffman)On Vortex AtomsOn Vortex MotionVortex Statics (W Thomson)Connection between Spin, Statistics, and Kinks (D Finkelstein & J Rubinstein)Flux Quantization and Particle Physics (H Jehle)Knot Wormholes in Geometrodynamics? (E W Mielke)Helicity and the Calugareanu Invariant (H K Moffatt & R L Ricca)Witten's Invariant of 3-Dimensional Manifolds: Loop Expansion and Surgery Calculus (L Rozansky)2+1 Dimensional Quantum Gravity as a Gaussian Fermionic System and the 3D-Ising Model (M Martellini & M Rasetti)Vassiliev Knot Invariants and the Structure of RNA Folding (L H Kauffman & Y B Magarshak)The Entanglement Structures of Polymers (A MacArthur)Synthesis and Cutting “In Half” of a Molecular Mobius Strip — Applications of Low Dimensional Topology in Chemistry (D W Walba et al.)Turning a Penrose Triangle Inside Out (T M Cowan) Readership: Mathematicians and mathematical physicists. keywords:Topological Gravity;Quantum Geometrodynanics;Knot Wormholes

Knots are familiar objects. Yet the mathematical theory of knots quickly leads to deep results in topology and geometry. This work offers an introduction to this theory, starting with our understanding of knots. It presents the applications of knot theory to modern chemistry, biology and physics.

Knot theory is a kind of geometry, and one whose appeal is very direct because the objects studied are perceivable and tangible in everyday physical space. It is a meeting ground of such diverse branches of mathematics as group theory, matrix theory, number theory, algebraic geometry, and differential geometry, to name some of the more prominent ones. It had its origins in the mathematical theory of electricity and in primitive atomic physics, and there are hints today of new applications in certain branches of chemistryJ The outlines of the modern topological theory were worked out by Dehn, Alexander, Reidemeister, and Seifert almost thirty years ago. As a subfield of topology, knot theory forms the core of a wide range of problems dealing with the position of one manifold imbedded within another. This book, which is an elaboration of a series of lectures given by Fox at Haverford College while a Philips Visitor there in the spring of 1956, is an attempt to make the subject accessible to everyone. Primarily it is a text book for a course at the junior-senior level, but we believe that it can be used with profit also by graduate students. Because the algebra required is not the familiar commutative algebra, a disproportionate amount of the book is given over to necessary algebraic preliminaries.

This exploration of combinatorics and knot theory is geared toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The author, Louis H. Kauffman, is a professor in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kauffman draws upon his work as a topologist to illustrate the relationships between knot theory and statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and algebra, as well as the role of knot theory in combinatorics. Featured topics include state, trails, and the clock theorem; state polynomials and the duality conjecture; knots and links; axiomatic link calculations; spanning surfaces; the genus of alternative links; and ribbon knots and the Arf invariant. Key concepts are related in easy-to-remember terms, and numerous helpful diagrams appear throughout the text. The author has provided a new supplement, entitled "Remarks on Formal Knot Theory," as well as his article, "New Invariants in the Theory of Knots," first published in The American Mathematical Monthly, March 1988.

This marvelous book of pictures illustrates the fundamental concepts of geometric topology in a way that is very friendly to the reader. It will be of value to anyone who wants to understand the subject by way of examples. Undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and non-professionals will profit from reading the book and from just looking at the pictures.

Approximately fifty articles that were published in The Mathematical Intelligencer during its first eighteen years. The selection demonstrates the wide variety of attractive articles that have appeared over the years, ranging from general interest articles of a historical nature to lucid expositions of important current discoveries. Each article is introduced by the editors. "...The Mathematical Intelligencer publishes stylish, well-illustrated articles, rich in ideas and usually short on proofs. ...Many, but not all articles fall within the reach of the advanced undergraduate mathematics major. ... This book makes a nice addition to any undergraduate mathematics collection that does not already sport back issues of The Mathematical Intelligencer." D.V. Feldman, University of New Hamphire, CHOICE Reviews, June 2001.