What is... a knot?

Nanna Aamand will explain what a knot is.

Abstract: In a famous paper from 1989, Edward Witten first showed that polynomial invariants of knots can arise from physical theories of elementary particles, known as quantum field theories. Since then, the subject has been widely studied by mathematicians and physicists alike. In this talk, I will give a definition of the most famous knot invariants arising in this way, namely the Jones polynomials, and I will try to motivate how these purely mathematical objects appear in physical theories.

"What is...?" is an accessible and non-technical seminar where speakers explain in one (short) lecture some object or theorem that they think is interesting. There will be drinks and snacks during the talk. See the seminar website for more information.