META-MONOIDS, META-BICROSSED PRODUCTS, AND THE ALEXANDER POLYNOMIAL
META-MONOIDS, META-BICROSSED PRODUCTS, AND THE ALEXANDER POLYNOMIAL
We introduce a new invariant of tangles along with an algebraic framework in which it is to be interpreted. We claim that the invariant contains the classical Alexander polynomial of knots and its multivariable extension to links. We argue that of the computationally efficient members of the family of Alexander …