Inner products on the Hecke algebra of the braid group

We claim that the Homfly polynomial (that is to say, Ocneanu's trace functional) contains two polynomial-valued inner products on the Hecke algebra representation of Artin's braid group. These bear a close connection to the Morton–Franks–Williams inequality. With respect to these structures, the set of positive, respectively negative permutation braids becomes an orthonormal basis. In the second case, many inner products can be geometrically interpreted through Legendrian fronts and rulings.