Related papers: High resolution portrait of the ideal trefoil knot
The most tight conformation of the trefoil knot found by the SONO algorithm is presented. Structure of the set of its self-contact points is analyzed.
We perform a compare-and-contrast investigation between the equilibrium shapes of physical and ideal trefoil knots, both in closed and open configurations. Ideal knots are purely geometric abstractions for the tightest configuration tied in…
Knots across various length scales, from micro to macro-scales, such as polymers, DNA, shoelaces, and surgery, serving their unique mechanical properties. The shape of ideal knots has been extensively studied in the context of knot theory,…
We study the equilibrium shapes of prime and composite knots confined to two dimensions. Using rigorous scaling arguments we show that, due to self-avoiding effects, the topological details of prime knots are localised on a small portion of…
The most tight conformations of prime knots are found with the use of the SONO algorithm. Their curvature and torsion profiles are calculated. Symmetry of the knots is analysed. Connections with the physics of polymers are discussed.
It is known that every nontrivial knot has at least two quadrisecants. Given a knot, we mark each intersection point of each of its quadrisecants. Replacing each subarc between two nearby marked points with a straight line segment joining…
In the past decade, optical vortex knots with axial dimensions on the order of $10^2-10^5$ wavelengths ($\lambda$) have been implemented in the laboratory. However, many potential applications require a drastic reduction on the the size of…
We report on new numerical computations of the set of self-contacts in tightly knotted tubes of uniform circular cross-section. Such contact sets have been obtained before for the trefoil and figure eight knots by simulated annealing -- we…
We investigate the elastic behavior of knotted loops of springy wire. To this end we minimize the classic bending energy $E_{\text{bend}}=\int\kappa^2$ together with a small multiple of ropelength $\mathcal R=\text{length}/\text{thickness}$…
Using the existence of a special quadrisecant line, we show the ropelength of any nontrivial knot is at least 15.66. This improves the previously known lower bound of 12. Numerical experiments have found a trefoil with ropelength less than…
We study simple, knotted and linked torus windings that are made of tubes of finite thickness. Knots which have the shortest rope length are often denoted ideal structures. Conventionally, the ideal structure are found by rope shortening…
We present a methodology to simulate the mechanics of knots in elastic rods using geometrically nonlinear, full three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis. We focus on the mechanical behavior of knots in tight configurations, for which…
A physical interpretation of the rope simulated by the SONO algorithm is presented. Properties of the tight polygonal knots delivered by the algorithm are analyzed. An algorithm for bounding the ropelength of a smooth inscribed knot is…
Three-dimensional images of evolving numerical trefoil vortex knots are used to study the growth and decay of the enstrophy and helicity. Negative helicity density ($h<0$) plays several roles. First, sheets of oppositely-signed helicity…
An inscribed knot is formed by polygonally connecting points lying on a knot $\gamma$ in parametric order, then closing the path by connecting the first and final points. The stick-knot number of a knot type K is the minimum number of line…
The distortion of a curve measures the maximum arc/chord length ratio. Gromov showed any closed curve has distortion at least pi/2 and asked about the distortion of knots. Here, we prove that any nontrivial tame knot has distortion at least…
Using methods of high performance computing, we have found indications that knotlike structures appear as stable finite energy solitons in a realistic 3+1 dimensional model. We have explicitly simulated the unknot and trefoil…
Ropelength and embedding thickness are related measures of geometric complexity of classical knots and links in Euclidean space. In their recent work, Freedman and Krushkal posed a question regarding lower bounds for embedding thickness of…
We show that the knot quandle of the $3$-, $4$-, or $5$-twist-spun trefoil is isomorphic to a quandle related to the $16$-, $24$-, or $600$-cell respectively. We further show that the cardinality of the knot quandle of the $m$-twist-spun…
This paper gives mathematical models for flat knotted ribbons, and makes specific conjectures for the least length of ribbon (for a given width) needed to tie the trefoil knot and the figure eight knot. The first conjecture states that (for…