SMS scnews item created by Catherine Meister at Mon 2 Mar 2026 1011
Type: Seminar
Distribution: World
Expiry: 16 Mar 2026
Calendar1: 5 Mar 2026 1300-1400
CalLoc1: SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)
Auth: cmeister@staff-10-48-28-113.vpnuser.sydney.edu.au (cmei0631) in SMS-SAML

SMRI Seminar: Boden

The Tait conjectures for classical, virtual, and welded knots

Hans Boden, McMaster University

SMRI Seminar, Thursday 5th March 2026, 1 pm – 2 pm, SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)

Abstract: The Tait conjectures were originally posed in the 1900s but remained open for nearly 100 years. They were ultimately resolved in the late 1980s using the new (at the time) technology from quantum topology, namely the Jones polynomial. In a more recent development, Josh Greene found a geometric characterization of alternating knots as those that simultaneously bound positive and negative definite spanning surfaces, and he used this to give a new proof of the Tait conjectures. In this talk, I will survey some results obtained by adapting these methods to knots in thickened surfaces and virtual knots. Some of these results were derived from a previous productive visit to SMRI, and they represent a fruitful collaboration with Zsuzsi Dancso, Damian Lin, and Tilda Wilkinson-Finch. 

For seminar updates, see our What's On Calendar. Please join us after the seminar for the SMRI afternoon tea, every Thursday at 2 pm on the SMRI Terrace.

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