Related papers: Alexander quandle lower bounds for link genera
We show that the lower bounds for Betti numbers given in math.GT/9909161 are equalities for a class of racks that includes dihedral and Alexander racks. We confirm a conjecture from the same paper by defining a splitting for the short exact…
A marked strongly invertible knot is a triple $(K,h,\delta)$ of a knot $K$ in $S^3$, a strong inversion $h$ of $K$, and a subarc $\delta \subset \operatorname{Fix}(h)\cong S^1$ bounded by $\operatorname{Fix}(h)\cap K\cong S^0$. An invariant…
The fundamental quandle is an invariant for distinguishing surface knots, yet computable presentations have traditionally been limited to surfaces embedded in the $4$-sphere. Building on the framework of banded unlink diagrams introduced by…
We introduce a quandle invariant of classical and virtual links, denoted $Q_{tc} (L)$. This quandle has the property that $Q_{tc} (L) \cong Q_{tc} (L')$ if and only if the components of $L$ and $L'$ can be indexed in such a way that $L=K_1…
It is known that the Alexander polynomial detects fibered knots and 3-manifolds that fiber over the circle. In this note, we show that when the Alexander polynomial becomes inconclusive, the notion of "knot adjacency", studied in the paper…
In this paper, we investigate structural properties of the Cayley graph of a quandle and describe this graph for several important classes of quandles, including conjugation, Takasaki, dihedral, and Alexander quandles. In particular, we…
We present a set of 26 finite quandles that distinguish (up to reversal and mirror image) by number of colorings, all of the 2977 prime oriented knots with up to 12 crossings. We also show that 1058 of these knots can be distinguished from…
A quandle is an algebra whose axioms are motivated from knot theory. A linear extension of a quandle can be described by using a pair of maps called an Alexander pair. In this paper, we show that a linear extension of a multiple conjugation…
Relations will be described between the quandle cocycle invariant and the minimal number of colors used for non-trivial Fox colorings of knots and links. In particular, a lower bound for the minimal number is given in terms of the quandle…
The coefficients of twisted Alexander polynomials of a knot induce regular functions of the $SL_2(\mathbb{C})$-character variety. We prove that the function of the highest degree has a finite value at an ideal point which gives a minimal…
By a recent result of Livingston, it is known that if a knot has a prime power branched cyclic cover that is not a homology sphere, then there is an infinite family of non-concordant knots having the same Seifert form as the knot. In this…
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…
The knot coloring polynomial defined by Eisermann for a finite pointed group is generalized to an infinite pointed group as the longitudinal mapping invariant of a knot. In turn this can be thought of as a generalization of the quandle…
We show that every periodic virtual knot can be realized as the closure of a periodic virtual braid and use this to study the Alexander invariants of periodic virtual knots. If $K$ is a $q$-periodic and almost classical knot, we show that…
We use the Blanchfield form to obtain a lower bound on the equivariant slice genus of a strongly invertible knot. For our main application, let $K$ be a genus one strongly invertible slice knot with nontrivial Alexander polynomial. We show…
Bar-Natan's Zh-construction associates to each $n$ component virtual link diagram $L$ an $(n+1)$ component virtual link diagram $Zh(L)$. If $L_0,L_1$ are equivalent virtual link diagrams, then $Zh(L_0),Zh(L_1)$ are equivalent as semi-welded…
A birack is an algebraic structure with axioms encoding the blackboard-framed Reidemeister moves, incorporating quandles, racks, strong biquandles and semiquandles as special cases. In this paper we extend the counting invariant for finite…
We study the integral, rational, and modular Alexander invariants, as well as the cohomology jump loci of groups arising as extensions with trivial algebraic monodromy. Our focus is on extensions of the form $1\to K\to G\to Q\to 1$, where…
Let $L$ be a oriented link such that $\Sigma_n(L)$, the $n$-fold cyclic cover of $S^3$ branched over $L$, is an L-space for some $n \geq 2$. We show that if either $L$ is a strongly quasipositive link other than one with Alexander…
We show that the torsion order $\mathrm{Ord}(K)$ of a knot $K$ in knot Floer homology gives a lower bound on the minimum number $n$ such that an oriented $(n+1)$-tangle replacement unknots $K$. This generalizes earlier results by Alishahi…