knot theory

Arroyo explains the interest in knot theory: 'Up until today, mathematicians have cataloged more than one and a half million different knots, starting from the simplest one towards the more complicated, and the catalogue is still growing.' Appealing in both their form and their symbolism, Othoniel's paintings ...

Their insight comes from combining particles physics with mathematical knot theory, a unique approach the came as an inspiration to one of the team members. The initial primordial soup, called the quark-gluon plasma, consisted of elementary particles called quarks, which make up protons and neutrons, ...

According to knot theory, knots can only exist in three dimensions: as soon as you add a fourth, they quickly unravel. That means that during the early period, the knotted flux tubes would have only caused rapid expansion in the three spatial dimensions. By the time the flux tube network broke down, the ...

They combined particles physics with mathematical knot theory to try and work this out, borrowing the concept of “flux tubes,” which are flexible strands of energy that link elementary particles together. Quarks, the elementary particles that make up protons and neutrons, are held together by another type of ...

For a new solution to this puzzle, the five coauthors took a common element from the standard model of particle physics and mixed it with a little basic knot theory to produce a novel scenario that not only can explain the predominance of three dimensions but also provides a natural power source for the ...

You might never have wondered why the Universe has just three spatial dimensions, but it is a question that has long vexed physicists. An idea that mixes particle physics with something called knot theory could not only offer an explanation, it might also provide insight into what powered the colossal ...

The mathematician's knot isn't quite the same as a shoelace knot. Instead of being made from a single piece of string, you can visualize a mathematical knot as being made from an elastic string with the ends glued together. The origin of knot theory dates back more than 125 years, to when Lord Kelvin ...

William Thomson once theorized that atoms were knots formed from ethereal vortices. He was wrong, but the successive research created knot theory and may shed light on the structure of proteins and DNA. Thomson was known as Lord Kelvin by the end of his life in the 19th century. He was known as a ...

Knot theory seeks to encode information about knots -- including what happens when they are altered in some way -- into algebraic expressions that can distinguish one knot from another. While experts have devised expressions that can differentiate some knots from others, a formula capable of describing ...

NG: We usually have professors come and give talks about something. Last year, one of the really memorable ones was “Knot theory.” It taught how you could predict how to untie a knot based on different combinations. We try and incorporate cool math concepts to show people math isn't some awful thing.