References & Sources  -  October 10, 1998

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Tabulating an enormous assortment of knots

Two teams of mathematicians have tabulated all knotted loops having 16 or fewer crossings, coming up with 1,701,936 different knots.

 

References:

Hoste, J., M. Thistlethwaite, and J. Weeks. 1998. The first 1,701,936 knots. Mathematical Intelligencer 20(Fall):33.

 

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1997. Tying physical theory into stable knots. Science News 151(May 3):270.

______. 1996. Tying knots to tubular geometry, DNA loops. Science News 150(Nov. 16):310.

Additional information about Morwen Thistlethwaite's knot tabulation is available at http://www.math.utk.edu/~morwen/.

Information about Knotscape, an interactive computer program for viewing knot tables and studying knots, can be found at http://www.pitzer.edu/~jhoste/knotscape.html.

 

Sources:

Jim Hoste
Department of Mathematics
Pitzer College
1050 N. Mills Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Web site: http://www.pitzer.edu/~jhoste/

Morwen Thistlethwaite
Department of Mathematics
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996
Web site: http://www.math.utk.edu/~morwen/

From Science News, Vol. 154, No. 15, October 10, 1998, p. 231.
Copyright Ó 1998 by Science Service.

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