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Friday, September 11, 2020

In Memoriam

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , — m759 @ 2:14 pm
 
From the Vanderbilt University obituary of Vaughan F. R. Jones —

"During the mid-1980s, while Jones was working on a problem in von Neumann algebra theory, which is related to the foundations of quantum mechanics, he discovered an unexpected link between that theory and knot theory, a mathematical field dating back to the 19th century.

Specifically, he found a new mathematical expression—now known as the Jones polynomial—for distinguishing between different types of knots as well as links in three-dimensional space. Jones’ discovery had been missed by topologists during the previous 60 years, and his finding contributed to his selection as a Fields Medalist.

'Now there is an area of mathematics called
quantum topology, which basically followed
from his original work,'

said Dietmar Bisch, professor of mathematics." [Link added.]

Related to Jones's work —

"Topological Quantum Information Theory" at
the website of Louis H. Kauffman —
http://homepages.math.uic.edu/~kauffman/Quanta.pdf.

Kauffman

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