The book is divided into two parts: Part 1 is a systematic course
on knots and physics starting from the ground up; and Part 2 is a
set of lectures on various topics related to Part 1. Part 2
includes topics such as frictional properties of knots, relations
with combinatorics and knots in dynamical systems. In this third
edition, a paper by the author entitled "Knot Theory and
Functional Integration" has been added. This paper shows how
the Kontsevich integral approach to the Vassiliev invariants is
directly related to the perturbative expansion of Witten's
functional integral. While the book supplies the background, this
paper can be read independently as an introduction to quantum field
theory and knot invariants and their relation to quantum gravity.
As in the second edition, there is a selection of papers by the
author at the end of the book. Numerous clarifying remarks have
been added to the text.
Physical Knots States and the Bracket Polynomial The Jones Polynomial and Its Generalizations Braids and the Jones Polynomial Formal Feynman Diagrams, Bracket as a Vacuum-Vacuum Expectation and the Quatum Group SL(2)q Yang-Baxter Models for Specializations of the Homfly Polynomial Knot-Crystals - Classical Knot Theory in a Modern Guise The Kauffman Polynomial Three Manifold Invariants from the Jones Polynomial Integral Heuristics and Witten's Invariants The Chromatic Polynomial The Potts Model and the Dichromatic Polynomial The Penrose Theory of Spin Networks Knots and Strings - Knotted Strings DNA and Quantum Field Theory Knots in Dynamical Systems - The Lorenz Attractor and selected papers.
