scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1182466

MaRDI QIDQ4400526zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Louis Kauffman

Publication date 10 December 1998

zbMATH Keywords

bracket state model

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Spinor and twistor methods applied to problems in quantum theory (81R25) Lattice systems (Ising, dimer, Potts, etc.) and systems on graphs arising in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B20)

Review text

This paper is an introduction to the relationship between Penrose spin networks and structures in physics and low dimensional topology. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the theme of networks and discretization. Section 3 introduces the bracket model for the Jones polynomial invariant of knots and links. In Section 4 the author shows how the bracket state model is a natural generalization of the original Penrose spin networks, and how this model is related to the quantum group corresponding to \(SL(2, \mathbb{C})\). In particular, he shows how the binor identity of the spin networks, the skein identity of the bracket polynomial (at a special value) and the trace identity \(\text{tr} (AB)+ \text{tr} (AB^{-1})= \text{tr}(A) \text{tr} (B)\) of \(SL(2, \mathbb{C})\) are really all the same. The section continues with a discussion of the role of these generalized networks in low dimensional topology. In particular, the author discusses the relationship of these nets with the evaluation of the Witte-Reshetikhin-Turaev invariant of 3-manifolds and corresponding relations with quantum gravity theories (Regge-Ponzano in \(2+1\) and Ashtekar-Smolin-Rovelli in \(3+1)\). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0890.00046].

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