Homological representations of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra
  Representations of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type A_{n-1} are equivalent to representations of the braid group B_n for which the generators satisfy a certain quadratic relation. We show how to construct such representations from the natural action of B_n on the homology of configuration spaces of the punctured disk. We conjecture that all irreducible representations of Hecke_n can be obtained in this way, even for non-generic values of q. 
Stephen Bigelow