Knot Theory of Coxeter type B and its physical applications

Abstract

Braid groups may be defined for every Coxeter diagram. Artin's braid group is of type A. Analogs of Temperley-Lieb, Hecke and Birman-Wenzl algebras exist for B-type. Our general hypothethis is that the braid group of B-type replaces Artin's braid group in most physical applications if the model is equipped with a nontrivial boundary. Solutions of a Potts model with a boundary and the reflection equation illustrate this principle. Braided tensor categories of B-type and dually Coxeter-B braided Hopf algebras are introduced. The occurrence of such categories in QFT on a half plane is discussed.