Related papers: Some minimal elements for a partial order of prime…

A knot is called minimal if its knot group admits epimorphisms onto the knot groups of only the trivial knot and itself. In this paper, we determine which two-bridge knot $\mathfrak{b}(p,q)$ is minimal where $q \leq 6$ or $p \leq 100$.

A knot is a closed loop in space without self-intersection. Two knots are equivalent if there is a self homeomorphism of space bringing one onto the other. An arc presentation is an embedding of a knot in the union of finitely many half…

This is the first in a series of four papers wherein we enumerate all prime alternating knots and links. In this first paper, we introduce four operators on knots and show that, when used according to very simple rules on the prime…

For a knot K, the concordance crosscap number, c(K), is the minimum crosscap number among all knots concordant to K. Building on work of G. Zhang, which studied the determinants of knots with c(K) < 2, we apply the Alexander polynomial to…

The warping degree of an oriented knot diagram is the minimal number of crossing changes which are required to obtain a monotone knot diagram from the diagram. The minimal warping degree of a knot is the minimal value of the warping degree…

We say that a link $L_1$ is an s-major of a link $L_2$ if any diagram of $L_1$ can be transformed into a diagram of $L_2$ by changing some crossings and smoothing some crossings. This relation is a partial ordering on the set of all prime…

We prove that if the order of the first homology of the 2-fold branched cover of a knot K in the 3-sphere is given by pm where p is a prime congruent to 3 mod 4 and gcd(p,m) =1, then K is of infinite order in the knot concordance group.…

For every odd integer $c\ge 21$, we raise an example of a prime component-preservingly amphicheiral link with the minimal crossing number $c$. The link has two components, and consists of an unknot and a knot which is $(-)$-amphicheiral…

We give a survey of some recent papers by the authors and Masaaki Wada relating the twisted Alexander polynomial with a partial order on the set of prime knots. We also give examples and pose open problems.

We determine the groups of minimal order in which all groups of order n can embedded for 1 < n < 16. We further determine the order of a minimal group in which all groups or order n or less can be embedded, also for 1 < n < 16.

In the early 1980's Mike Freedman showed that all knots with trivial Alexander polynomial are topologically slice (with fundamental group Z). This paper contains the first new examples of topologically slice knots. In fact, we give a…

In our previous work, we introduced the notion of the twisted Alexander vanishing order of knots, defined as the order of the smallest finite group for which the corresponding twisted Alexander polynomial vanishes. In this paper, we explore…

This paper, to be regularly updated, lists those prime knots with the fewest possible number of crossings for which values of basic knot invariants, such as the unknotting number or the smooth 4-genus, are unknown. This list is being…

We realize a given (monic) Alexander polynomial by a (fibered) hyperbolic arborescent knot and link of any number of components, and by infinitely many such links of at least 4 components. As a consequence, a Mahler measure minimizing…

The ribbon number of a knot is the minimum number of ribbon singularities among all ribbon disks bounded by that knot. In this paper, we build on the systematic treatment of this knot invariant initiated in recent work of Friedl, Misev, and…

We define a knot to be half ribbon if it is the cross-section of a ribbon 2-knot, and observe that ribbon implies half ribbon implies slice. We introduce the half ribbon genus of a knot K, the minimum genus of a ribbon knotted surface of…

We study knots in $\mathbb{S}^3$ obtained by the intersection of a minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with a small 3-sphere centered at a branch point. We construct examples of new minimal knots. In particular we show the existence of…

We prove that a simple knot in the lens space $L(p,q)$ fibers if and only if its order in homology does not divide any remainder occurring in the Euclidean algorithm applied to the pair $(p,q)$. One corollary is that if $p=m^2$ is a perfect…

There are 46,972 prime knots with crossing number 14. Among them 19,536 are alternating and have arc index 16. Among the non-alternating knots, 17, 477, and 3,180 have arc index 10, 11, and 12, respectively. The remaining 23,762 have arc…

This is the third paper in a series devoted to enumerating the prime alternating knots and links. This paper establishes a method for enumerating the prime alternating links. It is shown that one may choose any prime alternating link…