Related papers: Some spaces of polynomial knots
This article surveys the use of configuration space integrals in the study of the topology of knot and link spaces. The main focus is the exposition of how these integrals produce finite type invariants of classical knots and links. More…
In this paper we investigate the relationship between isotopy classes of knots and links in S^3 and the diffeomorphism types of homeomorphic smooth 4-manifolds. As a corollary of this initial investigation, we begin to uncover the…
Let $E_{d}(\ell)$ denote the space of all closed $n$-gons in $\R^{d}$ (where $d\ge 2$) with sides of length $\ell_1,..., \ell_n$, viewed up to translations. The spaces $E_d(\ell)$ are parameterized by their length vectors $\ell=(\ell_1,...,…
We establish a novel connection between algebraic number theory and knot theory. We show that the number of equivalence classes of integral binary quadratic forms of discriminant $t^2 - 4$ (for $t\neq \pm 2$) is equal to the number of…
This paper gives a partial description of the homotopy type of K, the space of long knots in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. The primary result is the construction of a homotopy equivalence between K and the free little 2-cubes object over…
Suppose that $N_1$ and $N_2$ are closed smooth manifolds of dimension $n$ that are homeomorphic. We prove that the spaces of smooth knots $Emb(S^1, N_1)$ and $Emb(S^1, N_2)$ have the same homotopy $(2n-7)$-type. In the 4-dimensional case…
We study the topology of the space of harmonic maps from $S^2$ to \CP 2$. We prove that the subspaces consisting of maps of a fixed degree and energy are path connected. By a result of Guest and Ohnita it follows that the same is true for…
Physical knots and links are one-dimensional submanifolds of R^3 with fixed length and thickness. We show that isotopy classes in this category can differ from those of classical knot and link theory. In particular we exhibit a Gordian…
We study path-connectedness and homotopy groups of sets of tensors defined by tensor rank, border rank, multilinear rank, as well as their symmetric counterparts for symmetric tensors. We show that over $\mathbb{C}$, the set of rank-$r$…
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…
In this paper we study some aspects of knots and links in lens spaces. Namely, if we consider lens spaces as quotient of the unit ball $B^{3}$ with suitable identification of boundary points, then we can project the links on the equatorial…
This paper studies knots in three dimensional projective space. Our technique is to associate a virtual link to a link in projective space so that equivalent projective links go to equivalent virtual links (modulo a special flype move). We…
Let $S$ be a complete flat surface, such as the Euclidean plane. We determine the homeomorphism class of the space of all curves on $S$ which start and end at given points in given directions and whose curvatures are constrained to lie in a…
Relative self-linking and linking "numbers" for pairs of knots in oriented 3-manifolds are defined in terms of intersection invariants of immersed surfaces in 4-manifolds. The resulting concordance invariants generalize the usual…
We study the spaces of embeddings $S^m\hookrightarrow R^n$ and those of long embeddings $R^m\hookrightarrow R^n$, i.e. embeddings of a fixed behavior outside a compact set. More precisely we look at the homotopy fiber of the inclusion of…
We investigate the disparity between smooth and topological almost concordance of knots in general 3-manifolds Y. Almost concordance is defined by considering knots in Y modulo concordance in Yx[0,1] and the action of the concordance group…
Knots are intricate structures that cannot be unambiguously distinguished with any single topological invariant. Momentum space knots, in particular, have been elusive due to their requisite finely tuned long-ranged hoppings. Even if…
Link equivalence up to isotopy in a 3-space is the problem that lies at the root of knot theory, and is important in 3-dimensional topology and geometry. We consider its restriction to alternating links, given by two alternating diagrams…
We give a homotopy classification of the global defects in ordered media, and explain it via the example of biaxial nematic liquid crystals, i.e., systems where the order parameter space is the quotient of the $3$-sphere $S^3$ by the…
We classify, up to homeomorphism, all closed manifolds having the homotopy type of a connected sum of two copies of real projective n-space.