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Ordering braids: In memory of Patrick Dehornoy

Dale Rolfsen

Department of Mathematics and Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

E-mail Address: rolfsen@math.ubc.ca

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218216522400028Cited by:0 (Source: Crossref)

This article is part of the issue:

Special Issue: Dedicated to the memory of Patrick Dehornoy
Guest Editors: D. Rolfsen and L. H. Kauffman

Abstract

With the untimely passing of Patrick Dehornoy in September 2019, the world of mathematics lost a brilliant scholar who made profound contributions to set theory, algebra, topology, and even computer science and cryptography. And I lost a dear friend and a strong influence in the direction of my own research in mathematics. In this paper, I will concentrate on his remarkable discovery that the braid groups are left-orderable, and its consequences, and its strong influence on my own research. I’ll begin by describing how I learned of his work.

Keywords:

AMSC: 06-02, 20-01, 20F36

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