Unexpected connections between Burnside groups and knot theory.

In classical knot theory and the theory of quantum invariants substantial effort was directed toward the search for unknotting moves on links. We solve, in this article, several classical problems concerning unknotting moves. Our approach uses a concept, Burnside groups of links, that establishes an unexpected relationship between knot theory and group theory. Our method has the potential to be used in computational biology in the analysis of DNA via tangle embedding theory, as developed by D. W. Sumners [Sumners, D. W., ed. (1992) New Scientific Applications of Geometry and Topology (Am Math. Soc., Washington, DC) and Ernst, C. & Sumners, D. W. (1999) Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 126, 23-36].