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Unknot recognition in quasi-polynomial time

Geometry/Topology

Speaker: Marc Lackenby, Oxford University
Location: Zoom
Start time: Tue, Feb 2 2021, 1:10PM

I will outline a new algorithm for unknot recognition that runs in quasi-polynomial time. The input is a diagram of a knot with n crossings, and the running time is $n^{O(\log n)}$. The algorithm uses hierarchies, normal surfaces and Heegaard splittings.