Related papers: Epimorphisms between $2$-bridge knot groups and th…
We improve the upper bound on the superbridge index $sb[K]$ of a knot type $[K]$ in terms of the bridge index $b[K]$ from $sb[K] \leq 5b -3$ to $sb[K]\leq 3b[k] - 1$.
A knot K in a closed connected orientable 3-manifold M is called a 1-genus 1-bridge knot if (M,K) has a splitting into two pairs of a solid torus V_i (i=1,2) and a boundary parallel arc in it. The splitting induces a genus two Heegaard…
We compare two crossed homomorphisms on a braid group, one defined diagrammatically and the other defined algebraically. We show that these crossed homomorphisms are essentially the same, and compute them in detail for simple braids, namely…
A well-known algorithm for unknotting knots involves traversing a knot diagram and changing each crossing that is first encountered from below. The minimal number of crossings changed in this way across all diagrams for a knot is called the…
We examine the conjecture, due to Champanerkar, Kofman, and Purcell that $\text{vol}(K) < 2 \pi \log \det (K)$ for alternating hyperbolic links, where $\text{vol}(K) = \text{vol}(S^3\backslash K)$ is the hyperbolic volume and $\det(K)$ is…
We consider the number of colors for the colorings of links by the symmetric group $S_3$ of degree $3$. For knots, such a coloring corresponds to a Fox 3-coloring, and thus the number of colors must be 1 or 3. However, for links, there are…
In this paper, we extend the symplectic quandle method, previously employed in our study of parabolic representations of knot groups, to investigate the general $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$-representations of 2-bridge ``kmot" groups. We introduce a…
We present a topological interpretation of knot and braid contact homology in degree zero, in terms of cords and skein relations. This interpretation allows us to extend the knot invariant to embedded graphs and higher-dimensional knots. We…
In this paper we study the parabolic representations of 2-bridge links by finiding arc coloring vectors on the Conway diagram. The method we use is to convert the system of conjugation quandle equations to that of symplectic quandle…
Given a knot K we introduce a new invariant coming from the Blanchfield pairing and we show that it gives a lower bound on the unknotting number of K. This lower bound subsumes the lower bounds given by the Levine-Tristram signatures, by…
The crossing number of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of edge crossings over all drawings of $G$ in the plane. A graph $G$ is $k$-crossing-critical if its crossing number is at least $k$, but if we remove any edge of $G$, its crossing…
This paper presents a new algorithm "A" for constructing Seifert surfaces from n-bridge projections of links. The algorithm produces minimal complexity surfaces for large classes of braids and alternating links. In addition, we consider a…
We prove that hyperbolic 2-bridge knots are determined amongst all compact 3-manifolds by the profinite completions of their knot groups.
For prime knots $K_1$ and $K_2$, we write $K_1 \geq K_2$ if there is an epimorphism from the knot group of $K_1$ to that of $K_2$ which preserves the meridian. We construct a family of pairs of knots with $K_1 \geq K_2$ such that an…
We define a metric filtration of the Gordian graph by an infinite family of 1-dense subgraphs. The n-th subgraph of this family is generated by all knots whose fundamental groups surject to a symmetric group with parameter at least n, where…
We use the Chebyshev knot diagram model of Koseleff and Pecker in order to introduce a random knot diagram model by assigning the crossings to be positive or negative uniformly at random. We give a formula for the probability of choosing a…
We consider a natural model of random knotting- choose a knot diagram at random from the finite set of diagrams with n crossings. We tabulate diagrams with 10 and fewer crossings and classify the diagrams by knot type, allowing us to…
Given a knot $K$ we may construct a group $G_n(K)$ from the fundamental group of $K$ by adjoining an $n$th root of the meridian that commutes with the corresponding longitude. For $n\geq2$ these "generalised knot groups" determine $K$ up to…
We define the virtual bridge number $vb(K)$ and the virtual unknotting number $vu(K)$ invariants for virtual knots. For ordinary knots $K$ they are closely related to the bridge number $b(K)$ and the unknotting number $u(K)$ and we have…
It is known that each knot has a semimeander diagram (i. e. a diagram composed of two smooth simple arcs), however the number of crossings in such a diagram can only be roughly estimated. In the present paper we provide a new estimate of…