Modul:   MAT075  Zurich Graduate Colloquium

What is… a rational tangle?

Talk by Laura Marino

Date: 05.03.24  Time: 15.30 - 16.30  Room:

''Knot theory is the study of knots, that is embedded circles into R^3 (or S^3) considered up to isotopy. A generic intersection of a knot with a 3-ball is called a tangle. In this talk, I will focus on tangles of a particular kind, called rational tangles. These tangles are in 1:1-correspondence with rational numbers and share many of their properties. After introducing the relevant ingredients and results, I will present the proper rational unknotting number, an invariant of knots defined in terms of rational tangles.''