Graduate Student Seminar-Knot theory: An Overview of Invariants of Links

Date and Time: Friday, November 5th, 2-3pm

Place: Rome 206

Speaker: Gabriel Montoya Vega GWU

Title: Knot theory: An Overview of Invariants of Links

Abstract: Classical knot theory studies the embeddings of a circle (knot), or several circles (link), up to natural deformations in R^3. One of the historical problems is the classification. This classification, or enumeration, is done up to the natural movement in space which is called an ambient isotopy. In this talk we discuss the idea of link invariants and the ground is set to see how the generalization of a simple invariant can lead to a complex concept in statistical mechanics.