Fundamental groups, 3-braids, and effective estimates of invariants (Q2304332)

The paper is devoted to invariants of braids and their effective bounds. For a subset \(A\) of \(\mathbb C\), consider the configuration space \(C_n(A)=\{(z_1,\dots,z_n)\in A^n:z_i\neq z_j\;\text{for}\;i\neq j\}\) of \(n\) particles moving along \(A\) without collision. For a symmetric group \(S_n\), the quotient \(C_n(A)/S_n\) is the symmetrized configuration space related to \(A\). Choose a base point \(E_n\in C_n(\mathbb C)/S_n\) and regard \(n\)-braids as homotopy classes of loops in the symmetrized configuration space, equivalently, as elements of the fundamental group \(\pi_1(C_n(\mathbb C)/S_n,E_n)\) of the symmetrized configuration space with base point \(E_n\). The author defines the extremal lengths for a braid \(b\) in the group \(\mathcal B_3\) of 3-braids and the conformal module of \(b\) with totally real horizontal boundary values. For a 3-braid, there is a definition of the extremal length of \(b\) with perpendicular bisector boundary values. In the paper, upper and lower bounds are given for the versions of the extremal length of any braid. Also, the estimates give bounds for the entropy of pure 3-braids.