Monsters in the hollow: counting Naiki braid patterns using de Bruijn's Monster theorem

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Japanese braids known as Naiki, which are distinguished by their hollow interior, have a simple structure shared by many other fiber arts and crafts. The way in which this structure forms a cylindrical braid imposes a particular set of symmetries on the final product. This paper uses enumerative combinatorics, including de Bruijn's Monster Theorem, to count the number of two-color Naiki braids under equivalence by this natural set of symmetries. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT