Related papers: The Tait conjecture in g(S^1xS^2)
We define a polynomial invariant $J_n^T$ of links in the thickened torus. We call $J^T_n$ the $n$th toroidal colored Jones polynomial, and show it satisfies many properties of the original colored Jones polynomial. Most significantly,…
A virtual link may be defined as an equivalence class of diagrams, or alternatively as a stable equivalence class of links in thickened surfaces. We prove that a minimal crossing virtual link diagram has minimal genus across representatives…
Let $L$ be a non-split prime alternating link with $n>0$ crossings. We show that for each fixed $g$, the number of genus-$g$ Seifert surfaces for $L$ is bounded by an explicitly given polynomial in $n$. The result also holds for all…
The set of isotopy classes of nontrivial torus knots $T(p,q)$ in $S^3$ is in bijection with the set of coprime integer pairs $(p,q)$ satisfying $|p|>q\geq 2$. We verify the AJ conjecture for the connected sums $T(p,q)\# T(a,b)$ when $p$ and…
In this paper, we characterize the sigma-adequacy of a link diagram in two ways: in terms of a certain edge subset of its Tait graph and in terms of a certain product of Tutte polynomials. Furthermore, we show that the symmetrized Tutte…
A Gauss diagram is a simple, combinatorial way to present a knot. It is known that any Vassiliev invariant may be obtained from a Gauss diagram formula that involves counting (with signs and multiplicities) subdiagrams of certain…
We extend the Gordon-Litherland pairing to links in thickened surfaces, and use it to define signature, determinant, and nullity invariants for links that bound (unoriented) spanning surfaces. The invariants are seen to depend only on the…
We address the question of detecting minimal virtual diagrams with respect to the number of virtual crossings. This problem is closely connected to the problem of detecting the minimal number of additional intersection points for a generic…
Let $K$ be a genus $g$ alternating knot with Alexander polynomial $\Delta_K(T)=\sum_{i=-g}^ga_iT^i$. We show that if $|a_g|=|a_{g-1}|$, then $K$ is the torus knot $T_{2g+1,\pm2}$. This is a special case of the Fox Trapezoidal Conjecture.…
We prove the Tree Alternative Conjecture for the topological minor relation: letting $[T]$ denote the equivalence class of $T$ under the topological minor relation we show that: $|[T]| = 1$ or $|[T]|\geq \aleph_0$ and $\forall r\in V(T)$,…
The Bar\'at-Thomassen conjecture asserts that for every tree $T$ on $m$ edges, there exists a constant $k_T$ such that every $k_T$-edge-connected graph with size divisible by $m$ can be edge-decomposed into copies of $T$. So far this…
Given a reduced alternating diagram for a link, we obtain conditions that guarantee that the link complement has a complete hyperbolic structure, crossing arcs are the edges of an ideal geodesic triangulation, and every crossing arc is…
We introduce stable equivalence classes of oriented links in orientable three-manifolds that are orientation $I$-bundles over closed but not necessarily orientable surfaces. We call these twisted links, and show that they subsume the…
The Bar\'at-Thomassen conjecture asserts that there is a function $f$ such that for every fixed tree $T$ with $t$ edges, every graph which is $f(t)$-edge-connected with its number of edges divisible by $t$ has a partition of its edges into…
The goal of this paper is to address A. Shumakovitch's conjecture about the existence of $\Z_2$-torsion in Khovanov link homology. We analyze torsion in Khovanov homology of semi-adequate links via chromatic cohomology for graphs which…
Strengthening the classical concept of Steiner trees, West and Wu [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 102 (2012), 186--205] introduced the notion of a $T$-connector in a graph $G$ with a set $T$ of terminals. They conjectured that if the set $T$ is…
We show that there is a knot satisfying the property that for each minimal crossing number diagram of the knot and each single crossing of the diagram, changing the crossing results in a diagram for a knot whose unknotting number is at…
We introduce a new numerical invariant for special, reduced, alternating diagrams of oriented knots and links, defined in terms of the Laplacian matrix of the associated Tait graph. For a special alternating diagram, the Laplacian encodes…
We describe a model of random links based on random 4-valent maps, which can be sampled due to the work of Schaeffer. We will look at the relationship between the combinatorial information in the diagram and the hyperbolic volume.…
The slope conjecture gives a precise relation between the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot and the boundary slopes of essential surfaces in the knot complement. In this note we propose a generalization of the slope…