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Discrete Advances in the Unknotting Problem
Student-Run Discrete Mathematics| Speaker: | Mark Junod, UC Davis |
| Location: | 1147 MSB |
| Start time: | Thu, May 26 2011, 11:00AM |
Description
Wolfgang Haken was the first to present the unknotting problem
in a discrete setting. In this talk we'll cover how we turn this
topological problem into a combinatorial one by constructing the Haken
Normal Cone. Once we've gone over the basics, we'll see ties to the
Hilbert basis, and how techniques and advances in vertex enumeration of
polytopes has given better and better upper bounds on the computational
complexity of this problem.