This book introduces the study of knots, providing insights into recent applications in DNA research and graph theory. It sets forth fundamental facts such as knot diagrams, braid representations, Seifert surfaces, tangles, and Alexander polynomials. It also covers more recent developments and special topics, such as chord diagrams and covering spaces. The author avoids advanced mathematical terminology and intricate techniques in algebraic topology and group theory. Numerous diagrams and exercises help readers understand and apply the theory. Each chapter includes a supplement with interesting historical and mathematical comments.

This volume contains the proceedings of the ICTS program Knot Theory and Its Applications (KTH-2013), held from December 10–20, 2013, at IISER Mohali, India. The meeting focused on the broad area of knot theory and its interaction with other disciplines of theoretical science. The program was divided into two parts. The first part was a week-long advanced school which consisted of minicourses. The second part was a discussion meeting that was meant to connect the school to the modern research areas. This volume consists of lecture notes on the topics of the advanced school, as well as surveys and research papers on current topics that connect the lecture notes with cutting-edge research in the broad area of knot theory.

More recently, Khovanov introduced link homology as a generalization of the Jones polynomial to homology of chain complexes and Ozsvath and Szabo developed Heegaard-Floer homology, that lifts the Alexander polynomial. These two significantly different theories are closely related and the dependencies are the object of intensive study. These ideas mark the beginning of a new era in knot theory that includes relationships with four-dimensional problems and the creation of new forms of algebraic topology relevant to knot theory. The theory of skein modules is an older development also having its roots in Jones discovery. Another significant and related development is the theory of virtual knots originated independently by Kauffman and by Goussarov Polyak and Viro in the '90s. All these topics and their relationships are the subject of the survey papers in this book.

There have been exciting developments in the area of knot theory in recent years. They include Thurston's work on geometric structures on 3-manifolds (e.g. knot complements), Gordon-Luecke work on surgeries on knots, Jones' work on invariants of links in S3, and advances in the theory of invariants of 3-manifolds based on Jones- and Vassiliev-type invariants of links. Jones ideas and Thurston's idea are connected by the following path: hyperbolic structures, PSL(2,C) representations, character varieties, quantization of the coordinate ring of the variety to skein modules (i.e. Kauffman, bracket skein module), and finally quantum invariants of 3-manifolds. This proceedings volume covers all those exciting topics.

The present volume grew out of the Heidelberg Knot Theory Semester, organized by the editors in winter 2008/09 at Heidelberg University. The contributed papers bring the reader up to date on the currently most actively pursued areas of mathematical knot theory and its applications in mathematical physics and cell biology. Both original research and survey articles are presented; numerous illustrations support the text. The book will be of great interest to researchers in topology, geometry, and mathematical physics, graduate students specializing in knot theory, and cell biologists interested in the topology of DNA strands.

Discover a unique and modern treatment of topology employing a cross-disciplinary approach Implemented recently to understand diverse topics, such as cell biology, superconductors, and robot motion, topology has been transformed from a theoretical field that highlights mathematical theory to a subject that plays a growing role in nearly all fields of scientific investigation. Moving from the concrete to the abstract, Topology and Its Applications displays both the beauty and utility of topology, first presenting the essentials of topology followed by its emerging role within the new frontiers in research. Filling a gap between the teaching of topology and its modern uses in real-world phenomena, Topology and Its Applications is organized around the mathematical theory of topology, a framework of rigorous theorems, and clear, elegant proofs. This book is the first of its kind to present applications in computer graphics, economics, dynamical systems, condensed matter physics, biology, robotics, chemistry, cosmology, material science, computational topology, and population modeling, as well as other areas of science and engineering. Many of these applications are presented in optional sections, allowing an instructor to customize the presentation. The author presents a diversity of topological areas, including point-set topology, geometric topology, differential topology, and algebraic/combinatorial topology. Topics within these areas include: Open sets Compactness Homotopy Surface classification Index theory on surfaces Manifolds and complexes Topological groups The fundamental group and homology Special "core intuition" segments throughout the book briefly explain the basic intuition essential to understanding several topics. A generous number of figures and examples, many of which come from applications such as liquid crystals, space probe data, and computer graphics, are all available from the publisher's Web site.

Over the last fifteen years, the face of knot theory has changed due to various new theories and invariants coming from physics, topology, combinatorics and alge-bra. It suffices to mention the great progress in knot homology theory (Khovanov homology and Ozsvath-Szabo Heegaard-Floer homology), the A-polynomial which give rise to strong invariants of knots and 3-manifolds, in particular, many new unknot detectors. New to this Edition is a discussion of Heegaard-Floer homology theory and A-polynomial of classical links, as well as updates throughout the text. Knot Theory, Second Edition is notable not only for its expert presentation of knot theory’s state of the art but also for its accessibility. It is valuable as a profes-sional reference and will serve equally well as a text for a course on knot theory.

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.

High performance textiles represent one of the most dynamic sectors of the international textile and clothing industry. With contributions from leading experts in the field, this book provides an important overview of key developments in the field. Chapters cover the use of high performance textiles in such areas as protective clothing, heat and fire protection, medicine, civil engineering and the energy sector. - Reviews various approaches to modelling the geometry, structure and mechanical and physical properties of advanced textile materials - Evaluates novel surface treatments involving plasma and laser technologies for a range of high performance textiles - Focuses on textiles for specific purposes, with chapters devoted to textiles for heat and fire protection, wound care, industrial filtration, geotextiles, civil engineering and sustainable energy applications