Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications · 1995 · 38 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesMathematicsGeometryTopologyFinite GeometryFundamental GroupGeometric TopologyGroup TheoryKnot TheoryLow-dimensional TopologyBraid DiagramsBraid GroupsBraid TheoryMapping Class GroupsPseudo-anosov Maps
The well-known connection between braids and mapping classes on the n-punctured disc can be exploited to decide, using braid-theoretic techniques, the place of a given isotopy class in the Nielsen-Thurston classification as reducible or irreducible, and in the latter case, as periodic or pseudo-Anosov.