Abstract: In this talk, which should be understandable to mathematicians at all levels, I will present some examples and applications from braid theory. My remarks will touch on areas including, but not limited to, the Poincare Conjecture; the Neilsen-Thurston Classification Problem; and the mathematics of DNA. Given time I will conclude with completely unrelated, but topical, work done in conjunction with an undergraduate.
This talk will be accessible to undergraduates.