Hyperbolic geometry and Jones polynomial of embedded graphs

Series
Graph Theory Seminar
Time
Thursday, October 9, 2008 - 12:05pm for 1.5 hours (actually 80 minutes)
Location
Skiles 255
Speaker
Roland van der Veen – University of Amsterdam
Organizer
Robin Thomas
The aim of this talk is to introduce techniques from knot theory into the study of graphs embedded in 3-space. The main characters are hyperbolic geometry and the Jones polynomial. Both have proven to be very successful in studying knots and conjecturally they are intimately related. We show how to extend these techniques to graphs and discuss possible applications. No prior knowledge of knot theory or geometry will be assumed.