  We analyze relationships between quantum computation and a family of
generalizations of the Jones polynomial. Extending recent work by Aharonov et
al., we give efficient quantum circuits for implementing the unitary
Jones-Wenzl representations of the braid group. We use these to provide new
quantum algorithms for approximately evaluating a family of specializations of
the HOMFLYPT two-variable polynomial of trace closures of braids. We also give
algorithms for approximating the Jones polynomial of a general class of
closures of braids at roots of unity. Next we provide a self-contained proof of
a result of Freedman et al. that any quantum computation can be replaced by an
additive approximation of the Jones polynomial, evaluated at almost any
primitive root of unity. Our proof encodes two-qubit unitaries into the
rectangular representation of the eight-strand braid group. We then give
QCMA-complete and PSPACE-complete problems which are based on braids. We
conclude with direct proofs that evaluating the Jones polynomial of the plat
closure at most primitive roots of unity is a #P-hard problem, while learning
its most significant bit is PP-hard, circumventing the usual route through the
Tutte polynomial and graph coloring.
