Related papers: On minimality of two-bridge knots

We present a practical algorithm to determine the minimal genus of non-orientable spanning surfaces for 2-bridge knots, called the crosscap numbers. We will exhibit a table of crosscap numbers of 2-bridge knots up to 12crossings (all 362 of…

Let $p\geq 2$ and $q\neq 0$ an integer. A knot $K$ in the three-sphere is said to be a $(p,q)$-lens knot if and only if it covers a link in the lens space $L(p,q)$. In this paper, we use the second coefficient of the HOMFLY polynomial to…

We study the degree of polynomial representations of knots. We give the lexicographic degree of all two-bridge knots with 11 or fewer crossings. First, we estimate the total degree of a lexicographic parametrisation of such a knot. This…

We give the bridge indices for 11-crossing prime knots and give a minimal bridge projection for each of these knots. The results on the indices may be easily summarized: all of these knots that are not rational knots or Montesinos knots…

In a lens space X of order r a knot K representing an element of the fundamental group pi_1 X = Z/rZ of order s <= r contains a connected orientable surface S properly embedded in its exterior X-N(K) such that the boundary of S intersects…

We show that an $(n+1)$-bridge sphere for the unknot is a topologically minimal surface of index at most $n$.

A conjecture of Shumakovitch states that every nontrivial knot has 2-torsion in its Khovanov homology. We show that if a knot $K$ has no 2-torsion in its Khovanov homology, then the rank of its reduced Khovanov homology is minimal among all…

Define a(k,q) to be the smallest positive multiple of k such that the sum of its digits in base q is equal to k. The asymptotic behavior, lower and upper bound estimates of a(k,q) are investigated. A characterization of the minimality…

Knots are commonly found in molecular chains such as DNA and proteins, and they have been considered to be useful models for structural analysis of these molecules. One interested quantity is the minimum number of monomers necessary to…

It is conjectured that for each knot $K$ in $S^3$, the fundamental group of its complement surjects onto only finitely many distinct knot groups. Applying character variety theory we obtain an affirmative solution of the conjecture for a…

We determine the rational Khovanov bigraded homology groups of all Kanenobu knots. Also, we determine the crossing number for all Kanenobu knots $K(p,q)$ with $pq > 0$ or $|pq|\leq \max \{|p|, |q|\}$. In the case where $pq < 0$ and $|pq| >…

Any knot $K$ in genus-$1$ $1$-bridge position can be moved by isotopy to lie in a union of $n$ parallel tori tubed by $n-1$ tubes so that $K$ intersects each tube in two spanning arcs, which we call a leveling of the position. The minimal…

We determine the locally flat cobordism distance between torus knots with small and large braid index, up to high precision. Here small means 2, 3, 4, or 6. As an application, we derive a surprising fact about torus knots that appear as…

In this article we present the following new fact for prime p=11. For knots 6_2 and 7_2, mincol_{11} 6_2 = 5 = mincol_{11} 7_2, along with the following feature. There is a pair of diagrams, one for 6_2 and the other one for 7_2, each of…

A knot K is called n-adjacent to the unknot, if K admits a projection containing n generalized crossings such that changing any m (no larger than n) of them yields a projection of the unknot. We show that a non-trivial satellite knot K is…

If a knot K in a closed, orientable 3-manifold M has a bridge surface T with distance at least 3 in the curve complex of T - K, then the genus of any essential surface in its exterior with non-empty, non-meridional boundary gives rise to an…

A knot $K$ is called $(m,n)$-fertile if for every prime knot $K'$ whose crossing number is less than or equal to $m$, there exists an $n$-crossing diagram of $K$ such that one can get $K'$ from the diagram by changing its over-under…

We give a complete characterization of those essential simple loops on 2-bridge spheres of 2-bridge links which are null-homotopic in the link complements. By using this result, we describe all upper-meridian-pair-preserving epimorphisms…

Experimental work suggests that the Seifert genus of a knot grows linearly with respect to the crossing number of the knot. In this article, we use a billiard table model for $2$-bridge or rational knots to show that the average genus of a…

Given a knot $K$ parametrized by $r: [0,2\pi] \to \mathbb{R}^3$, we can define the electric potential on its complement by $\Phi(x) = \int_0^{2\pi} \frac{|r'(t)|}{|x - r(t)|}dt$. Physicists and knot theorists want to understand the critical…