Determinant of the crossing matrix of a braid

Abstract

In this paper, we define a braid invariant, the purified determinant $P(b)$ of a braid $b$, considering the determinant of the crossing matrix of a pure braid derived from $b$, and show that $P(b_1{b}_2)=P(b_2{b}_1)$ for any pair of $n$-braids $b_1$ and $b_2$.

11 pages, 5 figures