Braids and Self-Distributivity: 192 (Progress in Mathematics, 192) - Hardcover

Dehornoy, Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3764363436 ISBN 13: 9783764363437

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2000

Synopsis

The aim of this book is to present recently discovered connections between Artin's braid groups En and left self-distributive systems (also called LD­ systems), which are sets equipped with a binary operation satisfying the left self-distributivity identity x(yz) = (xy)(xz). (LD) Such connections appeared in set theory in the 1980s and led to the discovery in 1991 of a left invariant linear order on the braid groups. Braids and self-distributivity have been studied for a long time. Braid groups were introduced in the 1930s by E. Artin, and they have played an increas­ ing role in mathematics in view of their connection with many fields, such as knot theory, algebraic combinatorics, quantum groups and the Yang-Baxter equation, etc. LD-systems have also been considered for several decades: early examples are mentioned in the beginning of the 20th century, and the first general results can be traced back to Belousov in the 1960s. The existence of a connection between braids and left self-distributivity has been observed and used in low dimensional topology for more than twenty years, in particular in work by Joyce, Brieskorn, Kauffman and their students. Brieskorn mentions that the connection is already implicit in (Hurwitz 1891). The results we shall concentrate on here rely on a new approach developed in the late 1980s and originating from set theory.

About this title

Product Description

This is the award-winning monograph of the Sunyer i Balaguer Prize 1999. The book presents recently discovered connections between Artin's braid groups and left self-distributive systems, which are sets equipped with a binary operation satisfying the identity x(yz) = (xy)(xz). Although not a comprehensive course, the exposition is self-contained, and many basic results are established. In particular, the first chapters include a thorough algebraic study of Artin's braid groups.

Review

"In this book...P. Dehornoy has accomplished with remarkable success the task of presenting the area of interaction where Artin’s braid groups, left self-distributive systems (LD-systems) and set theory come together in a rigorous and clear manner...The exposition is self-contained and there are no prerequisites. A number of basic results about braid groups, self-distributive algebras, and set theory are provided."

--Mathematical Reviews

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3764363436
• ISBN 13: 9783764363437
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 642