This essay was written by Lower Sixth Form student Thomas Dowson as an Independent Learning Assignment (ILA) project. It was the winning submission in the STEM category of the 2024 ILA/ ORIS award. The following provides a short introduction to the full report, which can be found below:
A knot is a simple yet complex object, which can be found almost anywhere in the world. If you have ever been climbing, I’m sure you can appreciate the power a knot has. Can a knot be more than just a rope used as a safety measure for people who can’t climb?
If we look at a knot, surely there must be some way of describing it. Looking at the dictionary definition, it states: ‘a join made by tying together the ends of a piece or pieces of string, rope, cloth, etc’. In comes Knot Theory, a constantly developing branch of mathematics and physics, where advances are being constantly made in the quantum branch with new knot variants and invariants being discovered, and quantum fields and gravity being developed consequently.
Although quantum might seem unfamiliar to many, knot theory finds applications across various fields of science. Both computer science and mathematics feature specialized branches dedicated to the study of knots.
The Unchained Library 