International Conference on Knots, Low-Dimensional Topology, and Applications

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This NSF award provides partial support for U.S. participation in the international conference on knots, low-dimensional topology and applications, titled "Knots in Hellas 2016," to be held at the International Olympic Academy, Ancient Olympia, Greece, from July 17 through July 23, 2016. This cross-disciplinary conference will enable the exchange of methods and ideas as well as the exploration of fundamental research problems in the wide fields of knot theory and low-dimensional topology, from theory to applications to the life and physical sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics, as well as to engineering. It will provide opportunity for high quality interactions across fields and for generations of researchers, from graduate students to senior scientists. Graduate students and new PhD's working in these fields are especially encouraged to participate. This project will enable the participation of roughly twenty outstanding US based young researchers in the conference fields that might not otherwise be able to benefit from this exposure to cutting edge research relevant to their interests or be able to present the results of their own efforts on an international stage. Knot theory is a core area of topology that interacts significantly with many fields across theoretical and applied mathematics. Knots in Hellas 2016 brings together researchers from the whole spectrum of such research. This project will expose at least twenty excellent US based graduate students to cutting edge research relevant to their interests. The conference will feature plenary lectures, research sessions, and tutorial workshops providing focused research introduction for graduate students and young participants. The focal topics include the wide range of historical and contemporary invariants of knots and links and related topics such as virtual knots, topological quantum field theory, skein modules and algebras, quandles and their homology, knot algebras; braids and orderability of groups; hyperbolic knots and geometric structures of three dimensional manifolds; physical knots with applications to fluid flows, polymer and biophysics, DNA enzyme mechanisms, protein structure and function, and biochemistry. The program will be organized so as to facilitate inter-disciplinary discussions and research interactions. The program, size, and location of this international cross-disciplinary conference is ideal to enable exploration of fundamental problems, exchange of ideas, methods and contemporary and developing research problems, and to provide high quality interactions across fields and generations of researchers, from graduate students to the most senior researchers. The conference website is at: http://www.math.ntua.gr/~sofia/KnotsinHellas2016/