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Sossinsky:Knots. Mathematics with a twist.pdf - English

Sossinsky:Knots. Mathematics with a twist.pdf - English

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20 KNOTS<br />

(a) (b)<br />

Figure 2.5. Coiling a figure eight knot and unrolling it into a braid.<br />

was invented by the French mathematician Pierre Vogel. The reader<br />

not inclined to algorithmic reasoning can blithely skip this description<br />

and go on to the study (much simpler and more important) of the<br />

group of braids.<br />

Vogel's Braiding Algorithm<br />

The braiding algorithm transforms any knot into a coiled knot. To describe<br />

it I must introduce some definitions related to the planar representations<br />

of knots. Assume that a given knot is oriented; that is to say,<br />

the direction of the curve (indicated by arrows) has been selected. The<br />

planar representation of the knot defines a kind of geographic map in

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