Related papers: Knottedness is in NP, modulo GRH
Testing if a given graph $G$ contains the $k$-vertex path $P_k$ as a minor or as an induced minor is trivial for every fixed integer $k\geq 1$. However, the situation changes for the problem of checking if a graph can be modified into $P_k$…
The topological string interpretation of homological knot invariants has led to several insights into the structure of the theory in the case of sl(N). We study possible extensions of the matrix factorization approach to knot homology for…
We prove that for knots, the evaluation of the Jones polynomial at the sixth root of unity, as well as the evaluation of the $Q$-polynomial at the reciprocal of the golden ratio, are uniquely determined by the oriented homeomorphism type of…
The stable Kauffman conjecture posits that a knot in $S^3$ is slice if and only if it admits a slice derivative. We prove a related statement: A knot is handle-ribbon (also called strongly homotopy-ribbon) in a homotopy 4-ball $B$ if and…
This paper discusses some geometric ideas associated with knots in real projective 3-space $\mathbb{R}P^3$. These ideas are borrowed from classical knot theory. Since knots in $\mathbb{R}P^3$ are classified into three disjoint classes, -…
We classify all the maximal linklessly embeddable graphs of order 12 and show that their complements are all intrinsically knotted. We derive results about the connected domination numbers of a graph and its complement. We provide an answer…
Classical knot theory deals with {\em diagrams} and {\em invariants}. By means of horizontal {\em trisecants}, we construct a new theory of classical braids with invariants valued in {\em pictures}. These pictures are closely related to…
Given a knot K we may construct a group G_n(K) from the fundamental group of K by adjoining an nth root of the meridian that commutes with the corresponding longitude. These "generalised knot groups" were introduced independently by Wada…
A {\it stuck knot} is a knot diagram containing designated crossings, called {\it stuck crossings}, whose incident strands are required to remain locally non-separable. These rigidity constraints restrict the allowable ambient isotopies and…
Graph G is the square of graph H if two vertices x, y have an edge in G if and only if x, y are of distance at most two in H. Given H it is easy to compute its square H2, however Motwani and Sudan proved that it is NP-complete to determine…
Stable gonality is a multigraph parameter that measures the complexity of a graph. It is defined using maps to trees. Those maps, in some sense, divide the edges equally over the edges of the tree; stable gonality asks for the map with the…
We establish homotopy ribbon concordance obstructions coming from the Blanchfield form and Levine-Tristram signatures. Then, as an application of twisted Alexander polynomials, we show that for every knot K with nontrivial Alexander…
Given a group endowed with a Z/2-valued morphism we associate a Gauss diagram theory, and show that for a particular choice of the group these diagrams encode faithfully virtual knots on a given arbitrary surface. This theory contains all…
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 NP-complete $k$-Path problem asks whether a given undirected graph has a (simple) path of length at least $k$. We prove that $k$-Path has polynomial-size Turing kernels when restricted to planar graphs, graphs of bounded degree,…
We study the formation of knots on a macroscopic ball-chain, which is shaken on a horizontal plate at 12 times the acceleration of gravity. We find that above a certain critical length, the knotting probability is independent of chain…
The complexity of graph homomorphism problems has been the subject of intense study. It is a long standing open problem to give a (decidable) complexity dichotomy theorem for the partition function of directed graph homomorphisms. In this…
Let G denote a graph and let K be a subset of vertices that are a set of target vertices of G. The K-terminal reliability of G is defined as the probability that all target vertices in K are connected, considering the possible failures of…
We use the concept of a Kirchhoff resistor network (alternatively random walk on a network) to probe connected graphs and produce symmetry revealing canonical labelings of the graph(s) nodes and edges.
Links of singularity and generalized algebraic links are ways of constructing three-manifolds and smooth links inside them from potentially singular complex algebraic surfaces and complex curves inside them. We prove that knot lattice…