Yetter will explore several aspects of the recently discovered interactions between low-dimensional topology, statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, Hopf algebra and monoidal category theory. In particular, he will use Hopf algebra and category theoretic techniques to construct and, if possible, classify 1) solutions to the quantum Yang-Baxter equation and 2) topological and conformal quantum field theories. Even partial results would shed light on the meaning and interrelations of the newly discovered polynomial invariants of classical knots and links.
