Representations of small braid groups in Temperley-Lieb algebra (Q2378305): Difference between revisions

The Temperley-Lieb algebra \(TL_n\) is a \(\mathbb Z[A^{-1},A]\) algebra. As a module it is generated by isotopy classes of diagrams of non-intersecting strings connecting \(2n\) points positioned on two sides of a rectangle, say top and bottom, with \(n\) points in each side and where the strings can connect points on the same side. Multiplication is defined by putting one generator above the other. If a closed curve is obtained, it is erased and the generator is multiplied by \(-A^2-A^{-2}\). In a given diagram the number of cups is the number of strings that have both ends on the top of the diagram. Let \(I_{n,i}\) be the ideal generated by all diagrams whose number of cups exceeds \(i\), and let \(TL_{n,i}\) be the quotient of \(TL_n\) by \(I_{n,i}\). The Jones representation \(\rho_n: B_n\rightarrow TL_n\) is a representation from the braid group \(B_n\) into \(TL_n\), defined in a simple manner. The Jones polynomial of knots and links can be defined via this representation. Denote by \(J_{n,i}\) the representation of \(B_n\) into \(TL_{n,i}\) induced by \(\rho_n\). In this paper the authors consider the question of faithfulness of the Jones representation, the motivation being that any non-trivial element in the kernel of this representation may yield a non-trivial knot with trivial Jones polynomial. In the main result of this paper the authors give a method to construct non-trivial elements in the kernel of the representation \(J_{n,i}\). There is a typo in Theorem 1, the correct statement should be: Let \(\alpha\in \text{ker}\, J_{n,r}\) and \(\beta \in\text{ker}\, J_{n,s}\), where \(2(r+s)\leq n\). Moreover, assume that the last \(n-k-1\) strings of \(\alpha\) go straight down and that the first \(k\) strings of \(\beta\) go straight down (without any interaction with the other strings). Then \([\alpha,\beta]\in\text{ker}\, J_{n,r+s}\). With the help of a computer program, the authors have found some explicit examples of braids in the kernels of \(J_{9,2}\) and of \(J_{11,2}\).