Joint Student Colloquium

 Ty Ghaswala, Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo

"Hairstyles for a Mathematician"

Besides being a useful hair taming technique, braids are also a beautiful object in mathematics.  In this talk I will give a selective tour of the wonderful world of braids.  We will explore some interesting mathematical nooks and crannies in which braids arise, focusing on a particular representation (the Burau representation) and its connection to knot invariants.

MC 5501