A determinant formula of the Jones polynomial for a family of braids

Abstract: In 2012, Cohen, Dasbach, and Russell presented an algorithm to construct a weighted adjacency matrix for a given knot diagram. In the case of pretzel knots, it is shown that after evaluation, the determinant of the matrix recovers the Jones polynomial. Although the Jones polynomial is known to be #P-hard by Jaeger, Vertigan, and Welsh, this presents a class of knots for which the Jones polynomial can be computed in polynomial time by using the determinant. In this paper, we extend these results by recovering the Jones polynomial as the determinant of a weighted adjacency matrix for certain subfamilies of the braid group. Lastly, we compute the Kauffman polynomial of (2,q) torus knots in polynomial time using the balanced overlaid Tait graphs. This is the first known example of generalizing the methodology of Cohen to a class of quantum invariants which cannot be derived from the HOMFLYPT polynomial.