Journal of the
Korean Mathematical Society
JKMS

ISSN(Print) 0304-9914 ISSN(Online) 2234-3008

Article

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J. Korean Math. Soc. 1997; 34(3): 673-693

Printed September 1, 1997

Copyright © The Korean Mathematical Society.

Representations of the braid group $B_4$

Woo Lee

Seoul National University

Abstract

In this work, the irreducible complex representations of degree 4 of $B_4$, the braid group on 4 strings, are classified. There are 4 families of representations: A two-parameter family of representations for which the image of $P_4$, the pure braid group on 4 strings, is abelian; two families of representations which are the composition of an irreducible representation of $B_3$, the braid group on 3 strings, with a certain special homomorphism $\pi : B_4 \longrightarrow B_3$; a family of representations which are the tensor product of 2 irreducible two-dimensional representations of $B_4$.

Keywords: braid group, representation

MSC numbers: 20F36