University Seminar (CCAS): Computability, Complexity, and Algebraic Structure

Time: Wednesday, February 7, 11:15am – 12:15pm

Place: Phillips Hall, Room 109

Speaker:  Jozef Przytycki, GWU

Title:  From the Kauffman bracket polynomial to cubic skein modules and beyond

Abstract:  The study of linear and quadratic skein modules over the last thirty-seven years has led to a very rich skein theory that is connected to many disciplines of mathematics and physics, such as algebraic geometry, hyperbolic geometry, topological quantum field theory (TQFT), and statistical mechanics. There is, however, another class of skein modules with more parameters than the linear and quadratic cases which, save for a few exceptions, have been largely neglected until now.
The cubic skein module is the first object in this class which awaits exploration.