Physical knot theory

Physical knot theory

Physical knot theory is the study of mathematical models of knotting phenomena, often motivated by physical considerations from biology, chemistry, and physics. Traditional knot theory models a knot as a simple closed loop in three dimensional space. Such a knot has no thickness or physical properties such as tension or friction. Physical knot theory incorporates more realistic models. The traditional model is also studied but with an eye toward properties of specific embeddings ("conformations") of the circle. Such properties include ropelength and various knot energies.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of knot theory topics — Knot theory is the study of mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life in shoelaces and rope, a mathematician s knot differs in that the ends are joined together so that it cannot be undone. In precise mathematical… …   Wikipedia

  • Knot theory — A three dimensional depiction of a thickened trefoil knot, the simplest non trivial knot …   Wikipedia

  • History of knot theory — For thousands of years, knots have been used for basic purposes such as recording information, fastening and tying objects together. Over time people realized that different knots were better at different tasks, such as climbing or sailing. Knots …   Wikipedia

  • Crossing number (knot theory) — In the mathematical area of knot theory, the crossing number of a knot is the minimal number of crossings of any diagram of the knot. It is a knot invariant. By way of example, the unknot has crossing number zero, the trefoil knot three and the… …   Wikipedia

  • Knot energy — In physical knot theory, a knot energy is a functional on the space of all knot conformations. A conformation of a knot is a particular embedding of a circle into three dimensional space. Depending on the needs of the energy function, the space… …   Wikipedia

  • Knot invariant — In the mathematical field of knot theory, a knot invariant is a quantity (in a broad sense) defined for each knot which is the same for equivalent knots. The equivalence is often given by ambient isotopy but can be given by homeomorphism. Some… …   Wikipedia

  • Knot (mathematics) — A table of all prime knots with seven crossings or fewer (not including mirror images). In mathematics, a knot is an embedding of a circle in 3 dimensional Euclidean space, R3, considered up to continuous deformations (isotopies). A crucial… …   Wikipedia

  • Knot — For speeds, see Knot (unit). For other uses, see Knot (disambiguation). Some knots 1 Yarn knot ABoK #2688 2 Manrope knot 3 Granny knot 4 Rosebud stopper knot(?) …   Wikipedia

  • Theory — The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.In science a theory is a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena,… …   Wikipedia

  • Braid theory — The braid is associated with a planar graph. The 24 elements of a permutatio …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”