Related papers: Braid group and leveling of a knot
A knot in the 3-sphere in genus-1 1-bridge position (called a (1,1)-position) can be described by an element of the braid group of two points in the torus. Our main results tell how to translate between a braid group element and the…
This is the third of three papers that refine and extend portions of our earlier preprint, "The depth of a knot tunnel." Together, they rework the entire preprint. In this paper, we use the theory of tunnel number 1 knots that we introduced…
Unknotting numbers for torus knots and links are well known. In this paper, we present a method for determining the position of unknotting number crossing changes in a toric braid B(p, q) such that the closure of the resultant braid is…
We study certain linear representations of the knot group that induce augmentations of knot contact homology. This perspective on augmentations enhances our understanding of the relationship between the augmentation polynomial and the…
For a genus-1 1-bridge knot in the 3-sphere, that is, a (1,1)-knot, a middle tunnel is a tunnel that is not an upper or lower tunnel for some (1,1)-position. Most torus knots have a middle tunnel, and non-torus-knot examples were obtained…
A long standing open conjecture states that if a link $\mathcal{K}$ is alternating, then its ropelength $L(\mathcal{K})$ is at least of the order $O(Cr(\mathcal{K}))$. A recent result shows that the maximum braid index of a link bounds the…
Given a diagram $D$ of a knot $K$, we consider the number $c(D)$ of crossings and the number $b(D)$ of overpasses of $D$. We show that, if $D$ is a diagram of a nontrivial knot $K$ whose number $c(D)$ of crossings is minimal, then…
It is a consequence of theorems of Gordon-Reid [Tangle decompositions of tunnel number one knots and links, J. Knot Theory and its Ramifications, 4 (1995) 389-409] and Thompson [Thin position and bridge number for knots in the 3-sphere,…
We present two different representations of (1,1)-knots and study some connections between them. The first representation is algebraic: every (1,1)-knot is represented by an element of the pure mapping class group of the twice punctured…
We develop an algebraic representation for (1,1)-knots using the mapping class group of the twice punctured torus MCG(T,2). We prove that every (1,1)-knot in a lens space L(p,q) can be represented by the composition of an element of a…
The transient number of a knot K, denoted tr(K), is the minimal number of simple arcs that have to be attached to K, in order that K can be homotoped to a trivial knot in a regular neighborhood of the union of K and the arcs. We give a…
Let $K,K'$ be two-bridge knots of genus $n,k$ respectively. We show the necessary and sufficient condition of $n$ in terms of $k$ that there exists an epimorphism from the knot group of $K$ onto that of $K'$.
We study Kauffman's model of folded ribbon knots: knots made of a thin strip of paper folded flat in the plane. The folded ribbonlength is the length to width ratio of such a ribbon knot. We give upper bounds on the folded ribbonlength of…
We study the degree of polynomial representations of knots. We give the lexicographic degree of all two-bridge knots with 11 or fewer crossings. First, we estimate the total degree of a lexicographic parametrisation of such a knot. This…
Given a knot $K$ in $S^3$, a question raised by Cappell and Shaneson asks if the meridional rank of $K$ equals the bridge number of $K$. Using augmentations in knot contact homology we consider the persistence of equality between these two…
The knot Floer order $\operatorname{Ord}(K)$ is a knot invariant derived from knot Floer homology that provides bounds on many other invariants, such as the bridge index $\operatorname{br}(K)$ for which $\operatorname{Ord}(K) + 1 \leq…
It has been conjectured that the algebraic crossing number of a link is uniquely determined in minimal braid representation. This conjecture is true for many classes of knots and links. The Morton-Franks-Williams inequality gives a lower…
Knotoids are open ended knot diagrams regarded up to Reidemeister moves and isotopies. The notion is introduced by V.~Turaev in 2012. Two most important numeric characteristics of a knotoid are the crossing number and the height. The latter…
In this paper, we consider two properties on the braid index of a two-bridge knot. We prove an inequality on the braid indices of two-bridge knots if there exists an epimorphism between their knot groups. Moreover, we provide the average…
We show that any non-minimal bridge decomposition of a torus knot is stabilized and that $n$-bridge decompositions of a torus knot are unique for any integer $n$. This implies that a knot in a bridge position is a torus knot if and only if…