Related papers: Twisted Alexander polynomials and character variet…

In this paper, we consider generalizations of the Alexander polynomial and signature of 2-bridge knots by considering the Gordon-Litherland bilinear forms associated to essential state surfaces of the 2-bridge knots. We show that the…

If phi: G-->G' is a surjective homomorphism, we prove that the twisted Alexander polynomial of G is divisible by the twisted Alexander polynomial of G'. As an application, we show non-existence of surjective homomorphism between certain…

We study when the Thurston norm is detected by twisted Alexander polynomials associated to representations of the 3-manifold group to SL(2, C). Specifically, we show that the hyperbolic torsion polynomial determines the genus for a large…

We give explicit formulas for the adjoint twisted Alexander polynomial and the nonabelian Reidemeister torsion of genus one two-bridge knots.

We introduce a new algebraic topological technique to detect non-fibred knots in the three sphere using the twisted Alexander invariants. As an application, we show that for any Seifert matrix of a knot with a nontrivial Alexander…

Given a knot K in an integral homology sphere with exterior N_K, there is a natural action of the cyclic group Z/n on the space of SL(n,C) representations of the knot group \pi_1(N_K), and this induces an action on the SL(n,C) character…

Given a knot complement X and its p-fold cyclic cover X_p, we identify twisted polynomials associated to 1-dimensional linear representations of the fundamental group of X_p with twisted polynomials associated to related p-dimensional…

In this paper, we show that Alexander polynomials for any 2-bridge knots are specializations of cluster variables. A key tool is an ancestral triangle which appeared in both quantum topology and hyperbolic geometry in different ways.

We consider the Reidemeister torsion associated with SL(2, C)-representations of a knot group. A bifurcation point in the SL(2, C)-character variety of a knot group is a character which is given by both an abelian SL(2, C)-representation…

We determine the irreducible ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$-character variety of the 3-chain link exterior which is called the `magic $3$-manifold', and deduce a formula for the twisted Alexander polynomial associated to each ${\rm…

We compute both natural and smooth models for the $SL_2(\mathbb C)$ character varieties of the two component double twist links, an infinite family of two-bridge links indexed as $J(k,l)$. For each $J(k,l)$, the component(s) of the…

Twisted Alexander invariants have been defined for any knot and linear representation of its group. The invariants are generalized for any periodic representation of the commutator subgroup of the knot group. Properties of the new twisted…

The trapezoidal Fox conjecture states that the coefficient sequence of the Alexander polynomial of an alternating knot is unimodal. We are motivated by a harder question, the strong Fox conjecture, which asks whether the coefficient…

We describe the (P)SL(2,C) character varieties of all 2-bridge knots and the diagonal character varieties for all 2-bridge links in terms of a set of polynomials defined using Farey recursion.

We study the equivariant concordance classes of two-bridge knots, providing an easy formula to compute their butterfly polynomial, and we give two different proofs that no two-bridge knot is equivariantly slice. Finally, we introduce a new…

We use the 2-loop term of the Kontsevich integral to show that there are (many) knots with trivial Alexander polynomial which don't have a Seifert surface whose genus equals the rank of the Seifert form. This is one of the first…

For any knot, the following are equivalent. (1) The infinite cyclic cover has uncountably many finite covers; (2) there exists a finite-image representation of the knot group for which the twisted Alexander polynomial vanishes; (3) the knot…

We prove that the Alexander polynomials of certain families of alternating 4-braid knots satisfy Fox's Trapezoidal Conjecture. Moreover, we give explicit formulas for the signature and for the first 4 coefficients of the Alexander…

We prove that for any zero {\alpha} of the Alexander polynomial of a two-bridge knot, -3 < Re({\alpha}) < 6. Furthermore, for a large class of two-bridge knots we prove -1<Re({\alpha}).

In a series of papers the authors proved that twisted Alexander polynomials detect fibered 3-manifolds, and they showed that this implies that a closed 3-manifold N is fibered if and only if S^1 x N is symplectic. In this note we summarize…