Related papers: Mechanical Normal Forms of Knots and Flat Knots
This paper details a series of experiments in searching for minimal energy configurations for knots and links using the computer program KnotPlot. The most interesting phenomena found in these experiments is the dependence of the…
The primary objects of study in the ``knot theory of complex plane curves'' are C-links: links (or knots) cut out of a 3-sphere in the complex plane by complex plane transverse and totally tangential. Transverse C-links are naturally…
A simple analytical way of creating superpositions of Bessel-Gaussian light beams with knotted nodal lines is proposed. It is based on the equivalence between the paraxial wave equation and the two-dimensional Schr\"odinger equation for a…
Two knots in three-space are S-equivalent if they are indistinguishable by Seifert matrices. We show that S-equivalence is generated by the doubled-delta move on knot diagrams. It follows as a corollary that a knot has trivial Alexander…
We propose some natural generalizations of Reidemeister moves that do not increase the number of crossings in the generated diagrams. Experimentations make us conjecture that this class of monotonic moves is complete for computing canonical…
It has been suggested recently that knots might exist as stable soliton solutions in a simple three-dimensional classical field theory, opening up a wide range of possible applications in physics and beyond. We have re-examined and extended…
We construct families of trivial $2$-knots $K_i$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ such that the maximal complexity of $2$-knots in any isotopy connecting $K_i$ with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the…
We succeed to generalize spun knots of classical 1-knots to the virtual 1-knot case by using the `spinning construction'. That, is, we prove the following: Let $Q$ be a spun knot of a virtual 1-knot $K$ by our method. The embedding type $Q$…
We define homotopy-theoretic invariants of knots in prime 3-manifolds. Fix a knot J in a prime 3-manifold M. Call a knot K in M concordant to J if it cobounds a properly embedded annulus with J in MxI, and call K J-characteristic if there…
We discuss the theory of knots, and describe how knot invariants arise naturally in gravitational physics. The focus of this review is to delineate the relationship between knot theory and the loop representation of non-perturbative…
The unknotting number is the classical invariant of a knot. However, its determination is difficult in general. To obtain the unknotting number from definition one has to investigate all possible diagrams of the knot. We tried to show the…
Knots and links are fascinating and intricate topological objects. Their influence spans from DNA and molecular chemistry to vortices in superfluid helium, defects in liquid crystals and cosmic strings in the early universe. Here, we find…
This paper studies rotational virtual knot theory and its relationship with quantum link invariants. Every quantum link invariant for classical knots and links extends to an invariant of rotational virtual knots and links. The paper sets up…
It is known that besides the usual unitary mappings $\Omega = 1/\Omega^\dagger$ between the equivalent representations of the physical Hilbert space of Quantum Mechanics (often, Fourier transformations), the generalized non-unitary maps…
In an earlier paper we introduced rectangular diagrams of surfaces and showed that any isotopy class of a surface in the three-sphere can be presented by a rectangular diagram. Here we study transformations of those diagrams and introduce…
The trace of $n$-framed surgery on a knot in $S^3$ is a 4-manifold homotopy equivalent to the 2-sphere. We characterise when a generator of the second homotopy group of such a manifold can be realised by a locally flat embedded 2-sphere…
Based on an estimate of the knot entropy of a worm-like chain we predict that the interplay of bending energy and confinement entropy will result in a compact metastable configuration of the knot that will diffuse, without spreading, along…
The theory of welded and extended welded knots is a generalization of classical knot theory. Welded (resp. extended welded) knot diagrams include virtual crossings (resp. virtual crossings and wen marks) and are equivalent under an extended…
Deformations of knots and links in ambient space can be studied combinatorially on their diagrams via local modifications called Reidemeister moves. While it is well-known that, in order to move between equivalent diagrams with Reidemeister…
We probe the character of knotting in open, confined polymers, assigning knot types to open curves by identifying their projections as virtual knots. In this sense, virtual knots are transitional, lying in between classical knot types,…