Thesis (M.S.)--Boise State University, 2010. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55).

Thesis (M.S.)--Boise State University, 2010. / Title from t.p. of PDF file (viewed July 30, 2010). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Mathematics)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Knot theory has rapidly expanded in recent years. New representations of braid groups led to an extremely powerful polynomial invariant, the Jones polynomial. Combinatorics applied to knot and link diagrams led to generalizations. Knot theory also has connections with other fields such as statistical mechanics and quantum field theory, and has applications in determining how certain enzymes act on DNA molecules, for example. The principal objective of this dissertation is to study the relations between knots and algebraic structures called quandles. A quandle is a set with a binary operation satisfying some properties related to the three Reidemeister moves. The study of quandles in relation to knot theory was intitiated by Joyce and Matveev. Later, racks and their (co)homology theory were defined by Fenn and Rourke. The rack (co)homology was also studied by Grana from the viewpoint of Hopf algebras. Furthermore, a modified definition of homology theory for quandles was introduced by Carter, Jelsovsky, Kamada, Langford, and Saito to define state-sum invariants for knots and knotted surfaces, called quandle cocycle invariants. This dissertation studies the quandle cocycle invariants using extensions of quandles and knot colorings. We obtain a coloring of a knot by assigning elements of a quandle to the arcs of the knot diagram. Such colorings are used to define knot invariants by state-sum. For a given coloring, a 2-cocycle is assigned at each crossing as the Boltzmann weight. The product of the weights over all crossings is the contribution to the state-sum, which is the formal summation of the contributions over all possible colorings of the given knot diagram by a given quandle. Generalizing the cocycle invariant for knots to links, we define two kinds of invariants for links: a component-wise invariant, and an invariant defined as families of vectors. Abelian extensions of quandles are also defined and studied. We give a formula for creating infinite families of abelian extensions of Alexander quandles. These extensions give rise to explicit formulas for computing 2-cocycles. The theory of quandle extensions parallels that of groups. Moreover, we investigate the notion of extending colorings of knots using quandle extensions. In particular, we show how the obstruction to extending the coloring contributes to the non-trivial terms of the cocycle invariants for knots and links. Moreover, we demonstrate the relation between these new cocycle invariants and Alexander matrices.

Thesis advisor: Julia Elisenda Grigsby / In 1999, Khovanov constructed a combinatorial categorification of the Jones polynomial. Since then there has been a question of to what extent the topology of a link is reflected in his homology theory and how Khovanov homology can be used for topological applications. This dissertation compiles some of the authors contributions to these avenues of mathematical inquiry. In the first chapter, 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. Focusing on the case of 3-braids, we compute the Rasmussen $s$-invariant and the annular Rasmussen $d_t$ invariant of all 3-braid closures. As a corollary, we show that the vanishing/non-vanishing of the $\psi$ invariant is entirely determined by the $s$-invariant and the self-linking number for 3-braid closures. In the second chapter, we show if $L$ is any link in $S^3$ whose Khovanov homology is isomorphic to the Khovanov homology of $T(2,6)$ then $L$ is isotopic to $T(2,6)$. We show this for unreduced Khovanov homology with $\mathbb{Z}$ coefficients. Finally in the third chapter, we exhibit infinite families of annular links for which the maximum non-zero annular Khovanov grading grows infinitely large but the maximum non-zero annular Floer-theoretic gradings are bounded. We also show this phenomenon exists at the decategorified level for some of the infinite families. Our computations provide further evidence for the wrapping conjecture of Hoste-Przytycki and its categorified analogue. Additionally, we show that certain satellite operations cannot be used to construct counterexamples to the categorified wrapping conjecture. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Mathematics.

This thesis covers improvements on the upperbounds for ropelength of a specific class of algebraic knots.

Mechanisation of Mathematics refers to use of computers to generate or check proofs in Mathematics. It involves translation of relevant mathematical theories from one system of logic to another, to render these theories implementable in a computer. This process is termed formalisation of mathematics. Two among the many ways of mechanising are: 1 Generating results using automated theorem provers. 2 Interactive theorem proving in a proof assistant which involves a combination of user intervention and automation. In the first part of this thesis, we reformulate the question of equivalence of two Links in first order logic using braid groups. This is achieved by developing a set of axioms whose canonical model is the braid group on infinite strands B∞. This renders the problem of distinguishing knots and links, amenable to implementation in first order logic based automated theorem provers. We further state and prove results pertaining to models of braid axioms. The second part of the thesis deals with formalising knot Theory in Higher Order Logic using the interactive proof assistant -Isabelle. We formulate equivalence of links in higher order logic. We obtain a construction of Kauffman bracket in the interactive proof assistant called Isabelle proof assistant. We further obtain a machine checked proof of invariance of Kauffman bracket.

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No description available.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this dissertation we address the conservation of topological states in polymer knots. Topological constraints are frequently included into theoretical descriptions of polymer systems through invariants such as winding numbers and linking numbers of polynomial invariants. In contrast, our approach is based on sequences of manipulations of knots that maintain a given knot's topology; these are known as Reidemeister moves. We begin by discussing basic properties of knots and their representations. In particular, we show how the Reidemeister moves may be viewed as rules for dynamics of crossings in planar projections of knots. Thereafter we consider various combinatoric enumeration procedures for knot configurations that are equivalent under chosen topological constraints. Firstly, we study a reduced system where only the zeroth and first Reidemeister moves are allowed, and present a diagrammatic summation of all contributions to the associated partition function. The partition function is then calculated under basic simplifying assumptions for the Boltzmann weights associated with various configurations. Secondly, we present a combinatoric scheme for enumerating all topologically equivalent configurations of a polymer strand that is wound around a rod and closed. This system has the constraint of a fixed winding number, which may be viewed in terms of manipulations that obey a Reidemeister move of the second kind of the polymer relative to the rod. Again configurations are coupled to relevant statistical weights, and the partition function is approximated. This result is used to calculate various physical quantities for confined geometries. The work in that chapter is based on a recent publication, "Conservation of polymer winding states: a combinatoric approach", C.M. Rohwer, K.K. Müller-Nedebock, and F.-E. Mpiana Mulamba, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 (2014) 065001. The remainder of the dissertation is concerned with a dynamical description of the Reidemeister moves. We show how the rules for crossing dynamics may be addressed in an operator formalism for stochastic dynamics. Differential equations for densities and correlators for crossings on strands are calculated for some of the Reidemeister moves. These quantities are shown to encode the relevant dynamical constraints. Lastly we sketch some suggestions for the incorporation of themes in this dissertation into an algorithm for the simulated annealing of knots. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis ondersoek ons die behoud van topologiese toestande in knope. Topologiese dwangvoorwaardes word dikwels d.m.v. invariante soos windingsgetalle, skakelgetalle en polinomiese invariante in die teoretiese beskrywings van polimere ingebou. In teenstelling hiermee is ons benadering gebaseer op reekse knoopmanipulasies wat die topologie van 'n gegewe knoop behou - die sogenaamde Reidemeisterskuiwe. Ons begin met 'n bespreking van die basiese eienskappe van knope en hul daarstellings. Spesi ek toon ons dat die Reidemeisterskuiwe beskryf kan word i.t.v. reëls vir die dinamika van kruisings in planêre knoopprojeksies. Daarna beskou ons verskeie kombinatoriese prosedures om ekwivalente knoopkon gurasies te genereer onderhewig aan gegewe topologiese dwangvoorwaardes. Eerstens bestudeer ons 'n vereenvoudigde sisteem waar slegs die nulde en eerste Reidemeisterskuiwe toegelaat word, en lei dan 'n diagrammatiese sommasie van alle bydraes tot die geassosieerde toestandsfunksie af. Die partisiefunksie word dan bereken onderhewig aan sekere vereenvoudigende aannames vir die Boltzmanngewigte wat met die verskeie kon- gurasies geassosieer is. Tweedens stel ons 'n kombinatoriese skema voor om ekwivalente kon gurasies te genereer vir 'n polimeer wat om 'n staaf gedraai word. Die beperking tot 'n vaste windingsgetal in hierdie sisteem kan daargestel word i.t.v. 'n Reidemeister skuif van die polimeer t.o.v. die staaf. Weereens word kon gurasies gekoppel aan relevante statistiese gewigte en die partisiefunksie word benader. Verskeie siese hoeveelhede word dan bereken vir beperkte geometrie e. Die werk in di e hoofstuk is gebaseer op 'n onlangse publikasie, "Conservation of polymer winding states: a combinatoric approach", C.M. Rohwer, K.K. Müller-Nedebock, and F.-E. Mpiana Mulamba, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 (2014) 065001. Die res van die tesis handel oor 'n dinamiese beskrywing van die Reidemeisterskuiwe. Ons toon hoe die re els vir kruisingsdinamika beskryf kan word i.t.v. 'n operatorformalisme vir stochastiese dinamika. Di erensiaalvergelykings vir digthede en korrelatore vir kruisings op stringe word bereken vir sekere Reidemeisterskuiwe. Daar word getoon dat hierdie hoeveelhede die relevante dinamiese beperkings respekteer. Laastens maak ons 'n paar voorstelle vir hoe idees uit hierdie tesis geï nkorporeer kan word in 'n algoritme vir die gesimuleerde vereenvoudiging van knope.