Distinguishes Lecture Series

Physical Knots

Prof. Dr. Louis Kauffman

(University of Illinois at Chicago, homepage, wikipedia)

June 6th, June 7th, June 8th
11:30-12:30
HS Virologie in Herman Herder Str. 11

This distinguished lecture series, given by celebrated knot theorist Louis Kauffman from UIC, is a tour of visual ideas relating knots to situations in natural science. We will begin with knots and DNA and the production of knots in DNA recombination. Then we will show a movie of knotted vortices in water (courtesy of the work of William Irvine at the University of Chicago). Irvine and his group accomplished a feat that is the equivalent of blowing a knotted smoke ring! We discuss the possibility of knotted gluon fields in relation to the complexity of knots measured by rope length. We discuss the possibility of framed braids as a basis for elementary particles. And, time permitting, we discuss the pioneering work of Edward Witten on the nature of knot invariants. The lectures are self-contained, open and accessible to students and faculty of sciences.
No lower age limit required.

Links and References:

An Introduction to Khovanov Homology