Knot theory: a current view

Igor Kříž

University of Michigan

Abstract

Much has happened in knot theory since V. Jones discovered his famous polynomial in 1984. I will talk about some knot invariants which belong to, or are close to, combinatorics. I will start with the Jones polynomial, and proceed to a striking method called `categorification'. I also promise to mention at least one unsolved problem of efficient algorithmic computation.