A permanent formula for the Jones polynomial (Q719783)

The authors consider the permanent of a square matrix, the definition of which is similar to the one for the determinant, but without using signs. Given an \(n\)-crossing diagram \(D\) of a link, the paper under review gives an expression for the Jones polynomial in terms of the permanent of a \((7n)\times(7n)\) matrix. This improves on a similar, more general, formula in [\textit{L. G. Valiant}, Conference Record of the Eleventh Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (Atlanta, Ga., 1979), ACM, New York, 249--261 (1979)] that uses an \((n^2)\times(n^2)\) matrix. This \((7n)\times(7n)\) matrix is constructed from a directed graph given by replacing each crossing of the diagram \(D\) with a `gadget' --- one of two fixed directed graphs with 7 vertices immersed in the plane of the diagram.