We'll give a brief introduction to what knot theory is and why you might be interested in it, and talk about some classical invariants of knots and what kind of geometric information they detect. We'll then introduce a modern invariant called Heegaard Floer knot homology from the early 2000s, and talk about its properties and its relationship to classical invariants.

Hendricks is an Associate Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at Rutgers University. Hendricks in an organizer of the Rutgers Geometry/Topology Seminar. Her research focuses on low-dimensional topology, symplectic geometry and knot theory. 

Colloquium Seminars are held on select Fridays throughout the year. These broad audience presentations are intended to introduce the VCU community to the world of mathematics. Colloquium presentations explore topics in mathematics, applied mathematics, math history and education, and the exciting connections between math, science, art and humanities.