Knot theory and matrix integrals

P. Zinn-Justin, J. -B. Zuber

Published 2010-06-09, updated 2010-06-11Version 2

The large size limit of matrix integrals with quartic potential may be used to count alternating links and tangles. The removal of redundancies amounts to renormalizations of the potential. This extends into two directions: higher genus and the counting of "virtual" links and tangles; and the counting of "coloured" alternating links and tangles. We discuss the asymptotic behavior of the number of tangles as the number of crossings goes to infinity.