Related papers: Pretzel links, mutation, and the slice-ribbon conj…
We determine the smooth concordance order of the 3-stranded pretzel knots P(p,q,r) with p,q,r odd. We show that each one of finite order is, in fact, ribbon, thereby proving the slice-ribbon conjecture for this family of knots. As…
A pretzel knot $K$ is called $odd$ if all its twist parameters are odd, and $mutant$ $ribbon$ if it is mutant to a simple ribbon knot. We prove that the family of odd, 5-stranded pretzel knots satisfies a weaker version of the Slice-Ribbon…
We prove that many pretzel knots of the form $P(2n,m,-2n\pm1,-m)$ are not topologically slice, even though their positive mutants $P(2n, -2n\pm1, m, -m)$ are ribbon. We use the sliceness obstruction of Kirk and Livingston related to the…
Greene-Jabuka and Lecuona confirmed the slice-ribbon conjecture for 3-stranded pretzel knots except for an infinite family $P(a,-a-2,-\frac{(a+1)^2}{2})$ where $a$ is an odd integer greater than $1$. Lecuona and Miller showed that…
We provide a partial classification of the 3-strand pretzel knots $K = P(p,q,r)$ with unknotting number one. Following the classification by Kobayashi and Scharlemann-Thompson for all parameters odd, we treat the remaining families with $r$…
We give a necessary, and in some cases sufficient, condition for sliceness inside the family of pretzel knots $P (p_1,...,p_n)$ with one $p_i$ even. The three stranded case yields two interesting families of examples: the first consists of…
We give a complete characterization of the topological slice status of odd 3-strand pretzel knots, proving that an odd 3-strand pretzel knot is topologically slice if and only if either it is ribbon or has trivial Alexander polynomial. (By…
A link is called $\chi-$slice if it bounds a smooth properly embedded surface in the 4-ball with no closed components and Euler characteristic 1. If a link has a single component, then it is $\chi-$slice if and only if it is slice. One…
We prove that an infinite family of three-strand pretzel knots is not squeezed. In particular, we show that $P(4, -3, 5)$ is not squeezed. This answers a question posed by Lewark (2024). Our proof is obtained by comparing the Rasmussen…
Given a knot complement X and its p-fold cyclic cover X_p, we identify twisted polynomials associated to 1-dimensional linear representations of the fundamental group of X_p with twisted polynomials associated to related p-dimensional…
Using Gauge theoretical techniques employed by Lisca for 2-bridge knots and by Greene-Jabuka for 3-stranded pretzel knots, we show that no member of the family of Montesinos knots M(0;[m_1+1,n_1+2],[m_2+1,n_2+2],q), with certain…
We define an obstruction for a knot to be Z[Z]-homology ribbon, and use this to provide restrictions on the integers that can occur as the triple linking numbers of derivative links of knots that are either homotopy ribbon or doubly slice.…
In the present paper, we will show that a $(p,q,r)$-pretzel knot has the representativity 3 if and only if $(p,q,r)$ is either $\pm(-2,3,3)$ or $\pm(-2,3,5)$. We also show that a large algebraic knot has the representativity less than or…
We establish the slice-ribbon conjecture for a large family of Montesinos' knots by means of Donaldson's theorem on the intersection forms of definite 4-manifolds.
Let K_s be a (-2,3,2s+1)-type Pretzel knot (s >= 3) and E(K_s)(p/q) be a closed manifold obtained by Dehn surgery along K_s with a slope p/q. We prove that if q>0, p/q >= 4s+7 and p is odd, then E(K_s)(p/q) cannot contain an R-covered…
We show that nontrivial classical pretzel knots L(p,q,r) are hyperbolic with eight exceptions which are torus knots. We find Conway polynomials of n-pretzel links using a new computation tree. As applications, we compute the genera of…
We describe an algorithm to find ribbon disks for alternating knots, and the results of a computer implementation of this algorithm. The algorithm is underlain by a slice link obstruction coming from Donaldson's diagonalisation theorem. It…
In this short note we observe that a result of Eliashberg and Polterovitch allows to use the doubly slice genus as an obstruction for a Legendrian knot to be a slice of a concordance from the trivial Legendrian knot with maximal…
If there are any 2-component counterexamples to the Generalized Property R Conjecture, a least genus component of all such counterexamples cannot be a fibered knot. Furthermore, the monodromy of a fibered component of any such…
We show that for the pretzel knots $K_k=P(3,-3,-2k-1)$, the $n$-fold cyclic branched covers are L-spaces for all $n\geq 1$. In addition, we show that the knots $K_k$ with $k\geq 1$ are quasipositive and slice, answering a question of…