Identities of the Kauffman Monoid ${\mathcal{K}}_3$

Abstract

We give a transparent combinatorial characterization of the identities satisfied by the Kauffman monoid ${\mathcal{K}}_3$. Our characterization leads to a polynomial time algorithm to check whether a given identity holds in ${\mathcal{K}}_3$.

16 pages. The referee's suggestions have been taken into account