Related papers: Virtual unknotting numbers of certain virtual toru…

We use the rational Witt class of a knot in the 3-sphere as a tool for addressing questions about its unknotting number. We apply these tools to several low crossing knots (151 knots with 11 crossing and 100 knots with 12 crossings) and to…

A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We introduce virtual strings and study their geometric properties and homotopy invariants. We also discuss connections between virtual strings, Gauss words,…

A petal projection of a knot $K$ is a projection of a knot which consists of a single multi-crossing and non-nested loops. Since a petal projection gives a sequence of natural numbers for a given knot, the petal projection is a useful model…

A $2k$-move is a local deformation adding or removing $2k$ half-twists. We show that if two virtual knots are related by a finite sequence of $2k$-moves, then their $n$-writhes are congruent modulo $k$ for any nonzero integer $n$, and their…

The (ordinary) unknotting-number of 1-dimensional knots, which is defined by using the crossing-change, is a very basic and important invariant. It is very natural to consider the `unknotting-number' associated with other local-moves on…

We consider several classes of knotted objects, namely usual, virtual and welded pure braids and string links, and two equivalence relations on those objects, induced by either self-crossing changes or self-virtualizations. We provide a…

This paper defines a new invariant of virtual knots and links that we call the extended bracket polynomial, and denote by <<K>> for a virtual knot or link K. This invariant is a state summation over bracket states of the oriented diagram…

For any link in the 3-sphere, there is a natural lower bound for the unlinking number in terms of the classical signature. We prove that if this lower bound is sharp for a special alternating link $L$, then the unlinking number of $L$ is…

Let $r$ be an odd integer, $r\ge3$. Then the petal number of the torus knot of type $(r,r+2)$ is equal to $2r+3$.

We prove that if an alternating knot has unknotting number one, then there exists an unknotting crossing in any alternating diagram. This is done by showing that the obstruction to unknotting number one developed by Greene in his work on…

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…

For a knot $K$ the cube number is a knot invariant defined to be the smallest $n$ for which there is a cube diagram of size $n$ for $K$. There is also a Legendrian version of this invariant called the \emph{Legendrian cube number}. We will…

We compare the values of the nonorientable three genus (or, crosscap number) and the nonorientable four genus of torus knots. In particular, let T(p,q) be any torus knot with p even and q odd. The difference between these two invariants on…

We use the knot filtration on the Heegaard Floer complex to define an integer invariant tau(K) for knots. Like the classical signature, this invariant gives a homomorphism from the knot concordance group to Z. As such, it gives lower bounds…

Virtual knots, defined by Kauffman, provide a natural generalization of classical knots. Most invariants of knots extend in a natural way to give invariants of virtual knots. In this paper we study the fundamental groups of virtual knots…

The unknotting number of a positive braid with n strands and k intersections is known to be equal to (k-n+1)/2. We consider Lorenz knots (which are positive braids) and, using a different method, find their unknotting numbers in terms of…

Virtual quandles with two operations are discussed in the article. Certain knot invariant is constructed and used to distinguish two long virtual knots.

We define a family of virtual knots generalizing the classical twist knots. We develop a recursive formula for the Alexander polynomial $\Delta_0$ (as defined by Silver and Williams) of these virtual twist knots. These results are applied…

The Turaev genus and dealternating number of a link are two invariants that measure how far away a link is from alternating. We determine the Turaev genus of a torus knot with five or fewer strands either exactly or up to an error of at…

We prove that a crossing change along a double point circle on a 2-knot is realized by ribbon-moves for a knotted torus obtained from the 2-knot by attaching a 1-handle. It follows that any 2-knots for which the crossing change is an…