Related papers: Sampling Lissajous and Fourier knots
We study the behavior of Legendrian and transverse knots under the operation of connected sums. As a consequence we show that there exist Legendrian knots that are not distinguished by any known invariant. Moreover, we classify Legendrian…
It is conjectured that for each knot $K$ in $S^3$, the fundamental group of its complement surjects onto only finitely many distinct knot groups. Applying character variety theory we obtain an affirmative solution of the conjecture for a…
We show that every non-trivial tame knot or link in R^3 has a quadrisecant, i.e. four collinear points. The quadrisecant must be topologically non-trivial in a precise sense. As an application, we show that a nonsingular, algebraic surface…
We compute the Jones polynomial for a three-parameter family of links, the twisted torus links of the form $T((p,q),(2,s))$ where $p$ and $q$ are coprime and $s$ is nonzero. When $s = 2n$, these links are the twisted torus knots…
In math.GT/0002110 the author's Theorems 1.1 and 1.2, combined, implied that iterated torus knots are transversally simple. This result is in error and this erratum pin points the error. In "An addendum on iterated torus knots" a more…
Using the theory of perverse sheaves of vanishing cycles, we define a homological invariant of knots in three-manifolds, similar to the three-manifold invariant constructed by Abouzaid and the second author. We use spaces of SL(2,C) flat…
In this thesis, we prove several results concerning field-theoretic invariants of knots and 3-manifolds. In Chapter 2, for any knot $K$ in a closed, oriented 3-manifold $M$, we use $SU(2)$ representation spaces and the Lagrangian field…
The concordance genus of a knot K is the minimum three-genus among all knots concordant to K. For prime knots of 10 or fewer crossings there have been three knots for which the concordance genus was unknown. Those three cases are now…
Let $\mathfrak{L}_1$, $\mathfrak{L}_2$, $\mathfrak{L}_3$ be finite collections of $L_1$, $L_2$, $L_3$, respectively, lines in $\mathbb{R}^3$, and $J(\mathfrak{L}_1, \mathfrak{L}_2,\mathfrak{L}_3)$ the set of multijoints formed by them, i.e.…
We exhibit pairs of transverse knots with the same self-linking number that are not transversely isotopic, using the recently defined knot Floer homology invariant for transverse knots and some algebraic refinements of it.
We explore free knot diagrams, which are projections of knots into the plane which don't record over/under data at crossings. We consider the combinatorial question of which free knot diagrams give which knots and with what probability.…
We develop purely algebraic methods for proving that a knot is prime. Our approach uses the Heegaard Floer polynomial in conjunction with classical knot-theoretic methods: cyclic, dihedral, and metacyclic covering spaces. The theory of…
The Upsilon invariant of a knot is a concordance invariant derived from knot Floer homology theory. It is a piecewise linear continuous function defined on the interval $[0,2]$. Borodzik and Hedden gave a question asking for which knots the…
We show that every knot is one crossing change away from a knot of arbitrarily high bridge number and arbitrarily high bridge distance.
A table of the families of alternating knots formed by conways is presented. The Conway's function is shown with the use of linear algebra in terms of natural numbers, called conways, that represent the number of crossings along a…
Twisting a given knot $K$ about an unknotted circle $c$ a full $n \in \mathbb{N}$ times, we obtain a "twist family" of knots $\{ K_n \}$. Work of Kouno-Motegi-Shibuya implies that for a non-trivial twist family the crossing numbers…
Determining when two knots are equivalent (more precisely isotopic) is a fundamental problem in topology. Here we formulate this problem in terms of Predicate Calculus, using the formulation of knots in terms of braids and some basic…
We study the gordian graph of all knots in $\R^3$: two knots are adjacent if they differ by a single crossing change. We prove that this graph contains isometrically an infinite countable tree with infinite valency, and that the complement…
By examining knot Floer homology, we extend a result of Ozsv\'ath and Stipsicz and show further infinitely many Legendrian and transversely non-simple knot types among two-bridge knots. We give sufficient conditions of Legendrian and…
We present a new theory which describes the collection of all tunnels of tunnel number 1 knots in the 3-sphere (up to orientation-preserving equivalence in the sense of Heegaard splittings) using the disk complex of the genus-2 handlebody…