Related papers: The Conway Polynomial and Amphicheiral Knots
In 1979, Hartley and Kawauchi proved that the Conway polynomial of a strongly negative amphichiral knot factors as $f(z)f(-z)$. In this paper, we normalize the factor $f(z)$ to define the half-Conway polynomial. First, we prove that the…
We give a counterexample to the Kawauchi conjecture on the Conway polynomial of achiral knots which asserts that the Conway polynomial $C(z)$ of an achiral knot satisfies the splitting property $C(z)=F(z)F(-z)$ for a polynomial $F(z)$ with…
In recent work with J.Mostovoy and T.Stanford,the author found that for every natural number n, a certain polynomial in the coefficients of the Conway polynomial is a primitive integer-valued degree n Vassiliev invariant, but that modulo 2,…
For a positive braid link, a link represented as a closed positive braids, we determine the first few coefficients of its HOMFLY polynomial in terms of geometric invariants such as, the maximum euler characteristics, the number of split…
In 2009, Kawauchi proved that every strongly negative amphichiral knot is rationally slice. However, as shown by Hartley in 1980, there are examples of negative amphichiral knots that are not strongly negative amphichiral. In this paper, we…
HOMFLY polynomials are one of the major knot invariants being actively studied. They are difficult to compute in the general case but can be far more easily expressed in certain specific cases. In this paper, we examine two particular…
We give a simple obstruction for a knot to be amphichiral, in terms of the homology of the 2-fold branched cover. We work with unoriented knots, and so obstruct both positive and negative amphichirality.
Many knots and links in S^3 can be drawn as gluing of three manifolds with one or more four-punctured S^2 boundaries. We call these knot diagrams as double fat graphs whose invariants involve only the knowledge of the fusion and the…
In answer to a question of Long, Flapan constructed an example of a prime strongly positive amphicheiral knot that is not slice. Long had proved that all such knots are algebraically slice. Here we show that the concordance group of…
An explicit formula for the $A$-polynomial of the knot having Conway's notation $C(2n,4)$ is computed up to repeated factors. Our polynomial contains exactly the same irreducible factors as the $A$-polynomial defined in~\cite{CCGLS1}.
We determine the prime strongly positive amphicheiral knots up to 16 crossings and show that a large fraction of them admit knot diagrams with a double symmetry (rotational symmetry for strongly positive amphicheirality and an additional…
We give a brief historical overview of the Tait conjectures, made 120 years ago in the course of his pioneering work in tabulating the simplest knots, and solved a century later using the Jones polynomial. We announce the solution, again…
For a given knot $K$ and $w>0$, we construct infinitely many mutually distinct hyperbolic knots $\{K_i\}$ such that the $P$-satellites of $K$ and $K_i$ have the same HOMFLY polynomial up to given $z$-degrees, for all braided patterns $P$…
We confirm the AJ conjecture [Ga04] that relates the A-polynomial and the colored Jones polynomial for those hyperbolic knots satisfying certain conditions. In particular, we show that the conjecture holds true for some classes of…
We consider Conway polynomials of two-bridge links as Euler continuant polynomials. As a consequence, we obtain new and elementary proofs of classical Murasugi's 1958 alternating theorem and Hartley's 1979 trapezoidal theorem. We give a…
Using the recent Gauss diagram formulas for Vassiliev invariants of Polyak-Viro-Fiedler and combining these formulas with the Bennequin inequality, we prove several inequalities for positive knots relating their Vassiliev invariants, genus…
We give necessary conditions for a polynomial to be the Conway polynomial of a two-bridge link. As a consequence, we obtain simple proofs of the classical theorems of Murasugi and Hartley. We give a modulo 2 congruence for links, which…
The Harer-Zagier (HZ) transform maps the HOMFLY-PT polynomial into a rational function. For some special knots and links, the latter admits a simple factorised form, which is referred to as HZ factorisation. This property is preserved under…
The HOMFLY-PT and Kauffman polynomials are related to each other for special classes of knots constructed by full twists and Jucys-Murphy twists. The conditions for this relation are articulated in terms of characters of the…
Mutant knots, in the sense of Conway, are known to share the same Homfly polynomial. Their 2-string satellites also share the same Homfly polynomial, but in general their m-string satellites can have different Homfly polynomials for m>2. We…