Bowling ball representations of braid groups

Abstract

In a remark in his seminal 1987 paper, Jones describes a way to define the Burau matrix of a positive braid using a metaphor of bowling a ball down a bowling alley with braided lanes. We extend this definition to allow multiple bowling balls to be bowled simultaneously. We obtain representations of the Iwahori–Hecke algebra and a cabled version of the Temperley–Lieb representation.