KNOTS IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

The discovery of a link between apparently unrelated fields is always a particular highlight in the development of natural sciences. An enti re wave of such discoveries was triggered in 1984 and is still rolling . It all started with a bridge between knot theory and the theory of v on Neumann algebras: the Jones polynomials. Within one year mathematic ians discovered a most remarkable connection between statistical mecha nics and knot theory. Again, the mathematician and physicist Vaughan J ones played a central role. In 1988 Ed Witten successfully used techni ques of quantum field theory and gauge theory to arrive at the Jones p olynomial.