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Seminar

TGS: Topology Seminar: The unknotting number of $10_6$ is.... March 17, 2026 (02:10 PM PDT - 03:30 PM PDT)
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Location: Evans Hall, 740
Speaker(s) Mark Brittenham (University of Nebraska)
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This seminar series will take place on UC Berkeley campus, in Evans Hall room 740.

The knot $10_6$ currently holds the distinction of being the `simplest’ knot whose unknotting number we do not know. It also holds a different distinction in that it is the key to identifying the `simplest’ counterexample to one of two conjectures on unknotting number (we just don’t know which…). We will discuss this knot, some of its useful properties, the search for its unknotting number, and the larger question of how to `efficiently’ compute unknotting numbers. This is joint work with Susan Hermiller.

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