Invariants of links in 3-manifolds have been defined and studied classically through
algebraic topology. In the last decade ideas from singularity theory, quantum field
theory and statistical mechanics gave rise to the new theories of Vassiliev- and
quantum invariants. But the resulting combinatorial context and the topology of links are
not nicely combined.
The Conway polynomial Vk{z) of links K in S^ is an invariant, which is well
understood from both the classical and the modern viewpoint. It is combinatorially
characterized by Vunimot = 1 and the Conway relation