Vassiliev invariants I: Braid groups and rational homotopy theory

Abstract

We get a detailed account of Vassiliev type invariants starting with Chen's theory of iterated integrals and Malcev's completion of discrete groups. The canonical injection of the group of pure braids into its completion is identified with the universal Kontsevich-Vassiliev invariant.Further we discuss the extension of this morphism to the whole braid group and the multiplication law for the last one.