Non-abelian refers to a type of group in mathematics where the order in which elements are combined affects the result. In other words, for non-abelian groups, the operation is not commutative, meaning that for some elements a and b, it is true that a * b ≠ b * a. This characteristic is crucial in knot theory as it helps in constructing knot groups that distinguish different knots by examining their algebraic properties.
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