Related papers: A counterexample to Batson's conjecture

We study properties of the signature function of the torus knot $T_{p,q}$. First we provide a very elementary proof of the formula for the integral of the signatures over the circle. We obtain also a closed formula for the Tristram--Levine…

We study Legendrian knots in a cabled knot type. Specifically, given a topological knot type K, we analyze the Legendrian knots in knot types obtained from K by cabling, in terms of Legendrian knots in the knot type K. As a corollary of…

In this paper we classify Legendrian and transverse knots in the knot types obtained from positive torus knots by cabling. This classification allows us to demonstrate several new phenomena. Specifically, we show there are knot types that…

We study the band-unknotting number $u_{nb}(K)$ of a knot $K$, and how it behaves with respect to connect sums. We show that this sub-additive function is not additive under connected sums, by finding infinitely many examples of knots $K_1,…

For an oriented $3$-manifold $M$, let $\mathcal{S}(M)$ denote its Kauffman bracket skein module over $\mathbb{Z}[q^{\pm\frac{1}{2}}]$. We show that $\mathcal{S}(M)$ admits torsion when $M$ is the exterior of the Montesinos knot…

It is known that any surface knot can be transformed to an unknotted surface knot or a surface knot which has a diagram with no triple points by a finite number of 1-handle additions. The minimum number of such 1-handles is called the…

We use Batson's lower bound on the nonorientable slice genus of $(2n,2n-1)$-torus knots to prove that for any $n \geq 2$, every smooth Jordan curve has an inscribed rectangle of of aspect ratio $\tan(\frac{\pi k}{2n})$ for some $k\in…

In this paper, we establish a version of the adjunction inequality for closed symplectic 4-manifolds. As in a previous paper on the Thom conjecture, we use contact geometry and trisections of 4-manifolds to reduce this inequality to the…

Let $M_K$ be the 2-fold branched cover of a knot $K in $S^3$. If $H_1(M_K) = {\bf Z}_3 \oplus {\bf Z}_{3^{2i}} \oplus G$ where 3 does not divide the order of $G$ then $K$ is not of order 4 in the concordance group. This obstruction detects…

In this paper we further develop the theory of equivariant Seiberg-Witten-Floer cohomology of the two authors, with an emphasis on Brieskorn homology spheres. We obtain the following applications. First, we show that the knot concordance…

We establish a criterion that ensures a bounded almost complex curve in a bounded almost complex 4-manifold minimizes genus amongst all smooth surfaces that share its homology class and the transverse link on its boundary. An immediate…

We study torus knot invariants in the lens space $S^{3}/\mathbb{Z}_{p}$ within Chern--Simons theory. Using the surgery and modular description of lens spaces, we derive a general expression for the invariant of an $(\alpha,\beta)$ torus…

Let $D_+(K,t)$ denote the positive $t$-twisted double of $K$. For a fixed integer-valued additive concordance invariant $\nu$ that bounds the smooth four genus of a knot and determines the smooth four genus of positive torus knots,…

Region crossing change for a knot or a proper link is an unknotting operation. In this paper, we provide a sharp upper bound on the region unknotting number for a large class of torus knots and proper links. Also, we discuss conditions on…

We show that the difference between the topological 4-genus of a knot and the minimal genus of a surface bounded by that knot that can be decomposed into a smooth concordance followed by an algebraically simple locally flat surface can be…

A knot in $S^3$ is topologically slice if it bounds a locally flat disk in $B^4$. A knot in $S^3$ is rationally slice if it bounds a smooth disk in a rational homology ball. We prove that the smooth concordance group of topologically and…

Let M be $S^3$, $S^1\times S^2$, or a lens space L(p,q), and let k be a (1,1)-knot in M, i.e., a knot which is of 1-bridge with respect to a Heegaard torus. We show that if there is a closed meridionally incompressible surface in the…

In this article, we completely classify torus bundles over the circle that bound 4-manifolds with the rational homology of the circle. Along the way, we classify certain integral surgeries along chain links that bound rational homology…

All knots in $R^3$ possess Seifert surfaces, and so the classical Thurston-Bennequin and rotation (or Maslov) invariants for Legendrian knots in a contact structure on $R^3$ can be defined. The definitions extend easily to null-homologous…

We show that for each even integer $m\ge 2$, every reduced shadow with sufficiently many crossings is a shadow of a torus knot T(2,m+1), or of a twist knot $T_m$, or of a connected sum of $m$ trefoil knots.