Braid group actions and Khovanov homology from cyclic groups

Khovanov homology is a homology theory for links in the three-sphere. 
In the past 10 years, various mathematicians have given several different
constructions of this homology theory; some use algebraic geometry, some
use symplectic geometry, and some use representation theory.  This talk
will describe two more constructions of Khovanov homology.

In both constructions, the cyclic group plays a prominent role, but
for slightly different reasons:  in the first construction, this group
appears as a finite subgroup of SU(2); in the second construction it
appears via the parameter q for the Hecke algebra of the symmetric
group at a root of unity.