Related papers: Doubly slice knots with low crossing number
We describe a condition involving noncommutative Alexander modules which ensures that a knot with Alexander module $\mathbb{Z}[t^{\pm 1}]/(t-2) \oplus \mathbb{Z}[t^{\pm 1}]/(t^{-1}- 2)$ is topologically doubly slice. As an application, we…
A knot in $S^3$ is topologically slice if it bounds a locally flat disk in $B^4$. A knot in $S^3$ is rationally slice if it bounds a smooth disk in a rational homology ball. We prove that the smooth concordance group of topologically and…
The twisting number of a ribbon knot $K$ is the minimal number of tangle replacements on the symmetry axis of $J \# -J$ for any knot $J$ that is required to produce a symmetric union diagram of $K$. We prove that the twisting number is…
We generalize the classical study of Alexander polynomials of smooth or PL locally-flat knots to PL knots that are not necessarily locally-flat. We introduce three families of generalized Alexander polynomials and study their properties.…
The concordance genus of a knot is the least genus of any knot in its concordance class. It is bounded above by the genus of the knot, and bounded below by the slice genus, two well-studied invariants. In this paper we consider the…
In this paper we define the equivariant double-slice genus and equivariant super-slice genus of a strongly invertible knot. We prove lower bounds for both the equivariant double-slice genus and the equivariant super-slice genus. Using these…
We use matchings on Lyndon words to classify flat knots up to 8 crossings. Using flat knots invariants such as the based matrix, the $\phi$-invariant, the flat arrow polynomial, and the flat Jones-Krushkal polynomial, we distinguish all…
In this paper, we develop a lower bound for the double slice genus of a knot using Casson-Gordon invariants. As an application, we show that the double slice genus can be arbitrarily larger than twice the slice genus. As an analogue to the…
A 2-component oriented link in $S^3$ is called weakly doubly slice if it is a cross-section of an unknotted sphere in $S^4$, and strongly doubly slice if it is a cross-section of a 2-component trivial spherical link in $S^4$. We give the…
We use twisted Alexander polynomials to show that certain algebraically slice 2-bridge knots are not topologically slice, even though all prime power Casson-Gordon signatures vanish. We also provide some computations indicating the efficacy…
The existence of topologically slice knots that are of infinite order in the knot concordance group followed from Freedman's work on topological surgery and Donaldson's gauge theoretic approach to 4-manifolds. Here, as an application of…
We give infinitely many examples of 2-bridge knots for which the topological and smooth slice genera differ. The smallest of these is the 12-crossing knot $12a255$. These also provide the first known examples of alternating knots for which…
A crucial step in the surgery-theoretic program to classify smooth manifolds is that of representing a middle--dimensional homology class by a smoothly embedded sphere. This step fails even for the simple 4-manifolds obtained from the…
We use the famous knot-theoretic consequence of Freedman's disc theorem---knots with trivial Alexander polynomial bound a locally-flat disc in the 4-ball---to prove the following generalization. The degree of the Alexander polynomial of a…
We prove that an odd pretzel knot is doubly slice if it has $2n+1$ twist parameters consisting of $n+1$ copies of $a$ and $n$ copies of $-a$ for some odd integer $a$. Combined with the work of Issa and McCoy, it follows that these are the…
Given a knot complement X and its p-fold cyclic cover X_p, we identify twisted polynomials associated to 1-dimensional linear representations of the fundamental group of X_p with twisted polynomials associated to related p-dimensional…
We give a complete characterization of the topological slice status of odd 3-strand pretzel knots, proving that an odd 3-strand pretzel knot is topologically slice if and only if either it is ribbon or has trivial Alexander polynomial. (By…
An open question asks if every knot of 4-genus g_s can be changed into a slice knot by g_s crossing changes. A counterexample is given.
The slicing number of a knot, $u_s(K)$, is the minimum number of crossing changes required to convert $K$ to a slice knot. This invariant is bounded above by the unknotting number and below by the slice genus $g_s(K)$. We show that for many…
A knot is said to be slice if it bounds a smooth disk in the 4-ball. For 50 years, it was unknown whether a certain 11 crossing knot, called the Conway knot, was slice or not, and until recently, this was the only one of the thousands of…