Related papers: Covering link calculus and iterated Bing doubles
We consider the issue of the slice invariance of refined topological string amplitudes, which means that they are independent of the choice of the preferred direction of the refined topological vertex. We work out two examples. The first…
Families of alternating knots (links) and tangles are studied using as building block the conway defined as the twisting of two strands. The regular representation of knots assumes the projection has the minimal number of overpassings, and…
In 1982 Louis Kauffman conjectured that if a knot in the 3-sphere is a slice knot then on any Seifert surface for that knot there exists a homologically essential simple closed curve of self-linking zero which is itself a slice knot, or at…
A knot type is exchange reducible if an arbitrary closed n-braid representative can be changed to a closed braid of minimum braid index by a finite sequence of braid isotopies, exchange moves and +/- destabilizations. In the manuscript [J…
It is known that the linking form on the 2-cover of slice knots has a metabolizer. We show that several weaker conditions, or some other conditions related to sliceness, do not imply the existence of a metabolizer. We then show how the…
An edge cut $C$ of a graph $G$ is {\it tight} if $|C \cap M|=1$ for every perfect matching $M$ of $G$.~Barrier cuts and 2-separation cuts are called {\it ELP-cuts}, which are two important types of tight cuts in matching covered…
We show that there exists a link with 2 components which is not smoothly slice in $\mathbb{CP}^2 \# \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$. By contrast, it is well-known that every knot (i.e., link with 1 component) is smoothly slice therein. Our proof…
We verify the conjecture formulated in math.AG/0111298 for suspension singularities of type $g(x,y,z)= f(x,y)+z^n$, where $f$ is an irreducible plane curve singularity. More precisely, we prove that the modified Seiberg-Witten invariant of…
We prove that all knots with unknotting number at most 21 are smoothly slice in the K3 surface. We also prove a more general statement for 4-manifolds that contain a plumbing tree of spheres. Our strategy is based on a flexible method to…
We study the linking numbers in a rational homology 3-sphere and in the infinite cyclic cover of the complement of a knot. They take values in $\Bbb Q$ and in ${Q}({\Bbb Z}[t,t^{-1}])$ respectively, where ${Q}({\Bbb Z}[t,t^{-1}])$ denotes…
A cut $C:=\partial(X)$ of a matching covered graph $G$ is a separating cut if both its $C$-contractions $G/X$ and $G/\overline{X}$ are also matching covered. A brick is solid if it is free of nontrivial separating cuts. In 2004, we…
We use twisted Alexander polynomials to show that certain algebraically slice 2-bridge knots are not topologically slice, even though all prime power Casson-Gordon signatures vanish. We also provide some computations indicating the efficacy…
We introduce a notion of symmetric Whitney tower cobordism between bordered 3-manifolds, aiming at the study of homology cobordism and link concordance. It is motivated by the symmetric Whitney tower approach to slicing knots and links…
We develop a theory of chain complex double-cobordism for chain complexes equipped with Poincar\'{e} duality. The resulting double-cobordism groups are a refinement of Ranicki's torsion algebraic $L$-groups for localisations of a…
This paper is expository and is accessible to students. We define simple invariants of knots or links (linking number, Arf-Casson invariants and Alexander-Conway polynomials) motivated by interesting results whose statements are accessible…
We prove an equivariant version of the Cosmetic Surgery Conjecture for strongly invertible knots. Our proof combines a recent result of Hanselman with the Khovanov multicurve invariants $\widetilde{\operatorname{Kh}}$ and…
We construct an invariant of virtual knots which is a sliceness obstruction and sensitive to the $\Delta$-move. This invariants works if $\Z_{2}\oplus \Z_{2}$-index of chords is present.
Using elementary equalities between various cables of the unknot and the Hopf link, we prove the Wheels and Wheeling conjectures of [Bar-Natan, Garoufalidis, Rozansky and Thurston, arXiv:q-alg/9703025] and [Deligne, letter to Bar-Natan,…
We construct branched double coverings by certain direct products of manifolds for connected sums of copies of sphere bundles over the 2-sphere. As an application we answer a question of Kotschick and Loeh up to dimension five. More…
A link is called $\chi-$slice if it bounds a smooth properly embedded surface in the 4-ball with no closed components and Euler characteristic 1. If a link has a single component, then it is $\chi-$slice if and only if it is slice. One…