Related papers: Folded ribbon knots in the plane
For a ribbon graph $G$ we consider an alternating link $L_G$ in the 3-manifold $G\times I$ represented as the product of the oriented surface $G$ and the unit interval $I$. We show that the Kauffman bracket $[L_G]$ is an evaluation of the…
For a ribbon knot, it is a folk conjecture that the rank of its knot Floer homology must be 1 modulo 8, and another folk conjecture says the same about reduced Khovanov homology. We give the first counter-examples to both of these folk…
We extend techniques due to Pardon to show that there is a lower bound on the distortion of a knot in $\mathbb{R}^3$ proportional to the minimum of the bridge distance and the bridge number of the knot. We also exhibit an infinite family of…
In this note, we give a short proof that knot Floer thickness is a lower bound on the dealternating number of a knot. The result is originally due to work of Abe and Kishimoto, Lowrance, and Turaev. Our proof is a modification of the…
Among the knots that are the connected sum of two torus knots with cobordism distance 1, we characterize those that have 4-dimensional clasp number at least 2, and we show that their n-fold connected self-sum has 4-dimensional clasp number…
In this paper we will show how to classify Legendrian and transverse knots in the knot type of "sufficiently positive" cables of a knot in terms of the classification of the underlying knot. We will also completely explain the phenomena of…
This paper is about the clock number of a knot. First we define the clock number by using states of a knot defined by Kauffman. Next we show that if K is a prime knot, its clock number is greater than or equal to its crossing number.…
For a knot K, let b_n(K) be the minimum length of an n-stranded braid representative of K. Examples of knots exist for which b_n(K) is a non-increasing function. We investigate the behavior of b_n(K). We develop bounds on the function in…
A {\it stuck knot} is a knot diagram containing designated crossings, called {\it stuck crossings}, whose incident strands are required to remain locally non-separable. These rigidity constraints restrict the allowable ambient isotopies and…
We introduce a new way to tabulate knots by representing knot diagrams using a pair of planar trees. This pair of trees have their edges labeled by integers, they have no valence 2 vertices, and they have the same number of valence 1…
We present a class of knots associated with labelled generic immersions of intervals into the plane and compute their Gordian numbers and 4-dimensional invariants. At least 10% of the knots in Rolfsen's table belong to this class of knots.…
Numerical simulations indicate that there exist conformations of the unknot, tied on a finite piece of rope, entangled in such a manner, that they cannot be disentangled to the torus conformation without cutting the rope. The simplest…
We address the mechanics of an elastic ribbon subjected to twist and tensile load. Motivated by the classical work of Green and a recent experiment that discovered a plethora of morphological instabilities, we introduce a comprehensive…
Semiflexible polymer models are widely used as a paradigm to understand structural phases in biomolecules including folding of proteins. Since stable knots are not so common in real proteins, the existence of stable knots in semiflexible…
We study 3-braid knots of finite smooth concordance order. A corollary of our main result is that a chiral 3-braid knot of finite concordance order is ribbon.
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…
We establish a new fundamental relationship between total curvature of knots and crossing number. If K is a smooth knot in 3-space, R the cross-section radius of a uniform tube neighborhood of K, L the arclength of K, and k the total…
We consider diagrams of links in $S^2$ obtained by projection from $S^3$ with the Hopf map and the minimal crossing number for such diagrams. Knots admitting diagrams with at most one crossing are classified. Some properties of these knots…
The statistical mechanics of a long knotted collapsed polymer is determined by a free-energy with a knot-dependent subleading term, which is linked to the length of the shortest polymer that can hold such knot. The only other parameter…
The twisted torus knots lie on the standard genus 2 Heegaard surface for $S^3$, as do the primitive/primitive and primitive/Seifert knots. It is known that primitive/primitive knots are fibered, and that not all primitive/Seifert knots are…