In this paper we study handlebody versions of classical diagram algebras, most prominently, handlebody versions of Temperley-Lieb, blob, Brauer/BMW, Hecke and Ariki-Koike algebras. Moreover, motivated by Green-Kazhdan-Lusztig's theory of cells, we reformulate the notion of (sandwich, inflated or affine) cellular algebras. We explain this reformulation and how all of the above algebras are part of this theory.
Contents1. Introduction 1 2. A generalization of cellularity 4 3. Handlebody braid and Coxeter groups 11 4. Handlebody Temperley-Lieb and blob algebras 16 5. Handlebody Brauer and BMW algebras 28 6. Handlebody Hecke and Ariki-Koike algebras 36 References 41