Related papers: A note on Riley polynomials of $2$-bridge knots

A 1-bridge torus knot in a 3-manifold of genus $\le 1$ is a knot drawn on a Heegaard torus with one bridge. We give two types of normal forms to parameterize the family of 1-bridge torus knots that are similar to the Schubert's normal form…

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 seek to connect ideas in the theory of bridge trisections with other well-studied facets of classical knotted surface theory. First, we show how the normal Euler number can be computed from a tri-plane diagram, and we use this to give a…

The alternating knots, links and twists projected on the $S_2$ sphere were identified with the phase space of a Hamiltonian dynamic system of one degree of freedom. The saddles of the system correspond to the crossings, the edges correspond…

We investigate the question of when distinct branched surfaces in the complement of a 2-bridge knot support essential surfaces with identical boundary slopes. We determine all instances in which this occurs and identify an infinite family…

We consider the Reidemeister torsion associated with SL(2, C)-representations of a knot group. A bifurcation point in the SL(2, C)-character variety of a knot group is a character which is given by both an abelian SL(2, C)-representation…

In this paper, we show that Alexander polynomials for any 2-bridge knots are specializations of cluster variables. A key tool is an ancestral triangle which appeared in both quantum topology and hyperbolic geometry in different ways.

The trapezoidal Fox conjecture states that the coefficient sequence of the Alexander polynomial of an alternating knot is unimodal. We are motivated by a harder question, the strong Fox conjecture, which asks whether the coefficient…

A knot semigroup is defined by A. Vernitski. A. Vernitski conjectured that the knot semigroup of the 2-bridge knot is isomorphic to an alternating sum semigroup. To support this conjecture, and as a first main result, we prove that the knot…

We establish some facts about the behavior of the rational-geometric subvariety of the $SL_2(\c)$ or $PSL_2(\c)$ character variety of a hyperbolic knot manifold under the restriction map to the $SL_2(\c)$ or $PSL_2(\c)$ character variety of…

We study the AJ conjecture for $(r,2)$-cables of a knot, where $r$ is an odd integer. Using skein theory, we show that the AJ conjecture holds true for most $(r,2)$-cables of some classes of two-bridge knots and pretzel knots.

We prove for a large class of knots that the meridional rank coincides with the bridge number. This class contains all knots whose exterior is a graph manifold. This gives a partial answer to a question of S. Cappell and J. Shaneson, see…

We develop the study of the twelve intersection polynomials of long virtual knots, previously introduced in our preceding paper. We define two geometric invariants, the $1$- and $2$-supporting genera, using two distinct surface…

We show that a torus knot which is not 2-bridge has a unique irreducible bridge splitting of positive genus.

Each ruling of a Legendrian link can be naturally treated as a surface. For knots, the ruling is 2-graded if and only if the surface is orientable. For 2-graded rulings of homogeneous (in particular, alternating) knots, we prove that the…

We give characterizations of the skein polynomial for links (as well as Jones and Alexander-Conway polynomials derivable from it), avoiding the usual "smoothing of a crossing" move. As by-products we have characterizations of these…

We introduce a new combinatorial method to encode knots and links with applications to knot invariants. Clasp diagrams defined in this paper are combinatorial blueprints for building knot diagrams out of full twists on two strings rather…

We show that every knot is one crossing change away from a knot of arbitrarily high bridge number and arbitrarily high bridge distance.

The Meridional Rank Conjecture asks whether the bridge number of a knot in $S^3$ is equal to the minimal number of meridians needed to generate the fundamental group of its complement. In this paper we investigate the analogous conjecture…

In this paper we conjecture that the Links-Gould invariant of links, that we know is a generalization of the Alexander-Conway polynomial, shares some of its classical features. In particular it seems to give a lower bound for the genus of…