Knots in Washington
Encyclopedia
Knots in Washington is an international conference on knot theory
and its ramifications held once or twice per year since 1995. The main organizers are Józef Przytycki and Yongwu Rong, both at George Washington University
. This conference has become an important topological
event in the Washington Metropolitan Area
and regularly attracts participation of many well known topologists from other areas of the US and from other countries. For example, Knots in Washington XVIII, held in May of 2004, was the first conference fully devoted to the Khovanov homology
, with Mikhail Khovanov
giving a series of talks and leading experts, Dror Bar-Natan
, Lev Rozansky, and Oleg Viro
giving plenary talks. Knots in Washington XX was dedicated to the 60th birthday of Louis H. Kauffman. Moreover, there were three major conferences, including Knots in Poland in 1995 and 2003, and Knots in Hellas in 1998 with Fields Medal
winner Vaughan Jones
talking about his work on knot invariant
s.
Knot theory
In topology, knot theory is the study of mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life in shoelaces and rope, a mathematician's knot differs in that the ends are joined together so that it cannot be undone. In precise mathematical language, a knot is an embedding of a...
and its ramifications held once or twice per year since 1995. The main organizers are Józef Przytycki and Yongwu Rong, both at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. This conference has become an important topological
Topology
Topology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
event in the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
and regularly attracts participation of many well known topologists from other areas of the US and from other countries. For example, Knots in Washington XVIII, held in May of 2004, was the first conference fully devoted to the Khovanov homology
Khovanov homology
In mathematics, Khovanov homology is an invariant of oriented knots and links that arises as the homology of a chain complex. It may be regarded as a categorification of the Jones polynomial....
, with Mikhail Khovanov
Mikhail Khovanov
Mikhail Khovanov is a professor of mathematics at Columbia University. He earned a PhD in mathematics from Yale University in 1997, where he studied under Igor Frenkel. His interests include knot theory and algebraic topology...
giving a series of talks and leading experts, Dror Bar-Natan
Dror Bar-Natan
Dror Bar-Natan is a mathematics professor at the University of Toronto, Canada. His main research interests include knot theory, finite type invariants, and Khovanov homology.-Education:...
, Lev Rozansky, and Oleg Viro
Oleg Viro
Oleg Viro is a mathematician in the fields of topology and algebraic geometry, most notably real algebraic geometry, tropical geometry and knot theory....
giving plenary talks. Knots in Washington XX was dedicated to the 60th birthday of Louis H. Kauffman. Moreover, there were three major conferences, including Knots in Poland in 1995 and 2003, and Knots in Hellas in 1998 with Fields Medal
Fields Medal
The Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
winner Vaughan Jones
Vaughan Jones
Sir Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones, KNZM, FRS, FRSNZ is a New Zealand mathematician, known for his work on von Neumann algebras, knot polynomials and conformal field theory. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990, and famously wore a New Zealand rugby jersey when he accepted the prize...
talking about his work on knot invariant
Knot invariant
In the mathematical field of knot theory, a knot invariant is a quantity defined for each knot which is the same for equivalent knots. The equivalence is often given by ambient isotopy but can be given by homeomorphism. Some invariants are indeed numbers, but invariants can range from the...
s.