Alexander-Conway invariants of tangles

We consider an algebra of (classical or virtual) tangles over an ordered circuit operad and introduce Conway-type invariants of tangles which respect this algebraic structure. The resulting invariants contain both the coefficients of the Conway polynomial and the Milnor's mu-invariants of string links as partial cases. The extension of the Conway polynomial to virtual tangles satisfies the usual Conway skein relation and its coefficients are GPV finite type invariants. As a by-product, we also obtain a simple representation of the braid group which gives the Conway polynomial as a certain twisted trace.Comment: 14 pages, many figure

Conway-Kochen and the Finite Precision Loophole

Recently Cator & Landsman made a comparison between Bell's Theorem and Conway & Kochen's Strong Free Will Theorem. Their overall conclusion was that the latter is stronger in that it uses fewer assumptions, but also that it has two shortcomings. Firstly, no experimental test of the Conway-Kochen Theorem has been performed thus far, and, secondly, because the Conway-Kochen Theorem is strongly connected to the Kochen-Specker Theorem it may be susceptible to the finite precision loophole of Meyer, Kent and Clifton. In this paper I show that the finite precision loophole does not apply to the Conway-Kochen Theorem

A geometric construction of the Conway potential function

We give a geometric construction of the multivariable Conway potential function for colored links. In the case of a single color, it is Kauffman's definition of the Conway polynomial in terms of a Seifert matrix.Comment: 21 pages, 27 figure

A Factorization of the Conway Polynomial

A string link S can be closed in a canonical way to produce an ordinary closed link L. We also consider a twisted closing which produces a knot K. We give a formula for the Conway polynomial of L as a product of the Conway polynomial of K times a power series whose coefficients are given as explicit functions of the Milnor invariants of S. One consequence is a formula for the first non-vanishing coefficient of the Conway polynomial of L in terms of the Milnor invariants of L. There is an analogous factorization of the multivariable Alexander polynomial.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 9 figures using BoxedEP