Related papers: On eigenvalues of double branched covers

We study the behavior of the degree of the colored Jones polynomial and the boundary slopes of knots under the operation of cabling. We show that, under certain hypothesis on this degree, if a knot $K$ satisfies the Slope Conjecture then a…

We use the Blanchfield form to obtain a lower bound on the equivariant slice genus of a strongly invertible knot. For our main application, let $K$ be a genus one strongly invertible slice knot with nontrivial Alexander polynomial. We show…

Consider the collection of edge bicolorings of a graph that is cellularly embedded on an orientable surface. In this work, we count the number of equivalence classes of such colorings under two relations: reversing colors around a face and…

Recently, Mullins calculated the Casson-Walker invariant of the 2-fold cyclic branched cover of an oriented link in S^3 in terms of its Jones polynomial and its signature, under the assumption that the 2-fold branched cover is a rational…

Let $\nu$ be either the Ozsv\'ath-Szab\'o $\tau$-invariant or the Rasmussen $s$-invariant, suitably normalized. For a knot $K$, Livingston and Naik defined the invariant $t_\nu(K)$ to be the minimum of $k$ for which $\nu$ of the $k$-twisted…

Quasi-normal-eigenvalue optimization is studied under constraints $b_1(x) \le B(x) \le b_2 (x)$ on structure functions $B$ of 2-side open optical or mechanical resonators. We prove existence of various optimizers and provide an example when…

We prove that the Jones diameter of a link is twice its crossing number whenever the breadth of its Jones polynomial equals the difference between the crossing number and the Turaev genus. This implies that such link is adequate, as per the…

Given a closed oriented PL four-manifold $X$ and a closed surface $B$ embedded in $X$ with isolated cone singularities, we give a formula for the signature of an irregular dihedral cover of $X$ branched along $B$. For $X$ simply-connected,…

Whitehead doubles provide a plethora of examples of knots that are topologically slice but not smoothly slice. We discuss the problem of the Whitehead double of the Figure 8 knot and survey commonly used techniques to obstructing sliceness.…

We establish a Kauffman-Murasugi-Thistlethwaite-type theorem for alternating knots in a solid torus. Specifically, we show that any dotted-reduced alternating diagram of a knot in a handlebody realizes the minimal crossing number, and that…

We define a knot to be half ribbon if it is the cross-section of a ribbon 2-knot, and observe that ribbon implies half ribbon implies slice. We introduce the half ribbon genus of a knot K, the minimum genus of a ribbon knotted surface of…

New lower bounds on the unknotting number of a knot are constructed from the classical knot signature function. These bounds can be twice as strong as previously known signature bounds. They can also be stronger than known bounds arising…

We study cosmetic crossings in knots of genus one and obtain obstructions to such crossings in terms of knot invariants determined by Seifert matrices. In particular, we prove that for genus one knots the Alexander polynomial and the…

We prove that for particular infinite families of $L$-spaces, arising as branched double covers, the $d$-invariants defined by Ozsv\'ath and Szab\'o are arbitrarily large and small. As a consequence, we generalise a result by Greene and…

In this paper, we give the trivializing number of all minimal diagrams of positive 2-bridge knots, and study the relation between the trivializing number and the unknotting number for a part of these knots.

Ozsvath and Szabo have defined a knot concordance invariant tau that bounds the 4-ball genus of a knot. Here we discuss shortcuts to its computation. We include examples of Alexander polynomial one knots for which the invariant is…

Sharp upper bounds for the first eigenvalue of the Laplacian on a surface of a fixed area are known only in genera zero and one. We investigate the genus two case and conjecture that the first eigenvalue is maximized on a singular surface…

A number of results for the level-rank duality of $G(N)_K$ $\leftrightarrow$ $G(K)_N$ Chern-Simons theory are summarized, with emphasis on the applications to knot and link invariants. Explicit examples for $SU(2)_K$ $\leftrightarrow$…

Given a closed four-manifold $X$ with an indefinite intersection form, we consider smoothly embedded surfaces in $X \setminus $int$(B^4)$, with boundary a knot $K \subset S^3$. We give several methods to bound the genus of such surfaces in…

Understanding ideal points in the character varieties of knot complements has led to a number of important invariants for 3-manifolds. Ohtsuki (1994) counted the ideal points for character varieties of 2-bridge knot complements, and he made…