Related papers: Generating function on epimorphisms between $2$-br…
This note shows that if two elements of equal trace (e.g., conjugate elements) generate an arithmetic two-bridge knot or link group, then the elements are parabolic. This includes the figure-eight knot and Whitehead link groups. Similarly,…
We introduce a new numerical invariant of knots and links from the descending diagrams. It is considered to live between the unknotting number and the bridge number.
We obtain first order linear partial differential equations which are satisfied by exponential generating functions of two variables for the number of connected bipartite graphs with given Betti number. By solving these equations…
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.
The 2-bridge knots are a family of knots with bridge number 2. In this paper, we compute the Kauffman polynomials of 2-bridge knots using the Kauffman skein theory and linear algebra techniques. Our calculation can be easily carried out…
This paper contains the results of efforts to determine values of the smooth and the topological slice genus of 11- and 12-crossing knots. Upper bounds for these genera were produced by using a computer to search for genus one concordances…
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…
Any knot $K$ in genus-$1$ $1$-bridge position can be moved by isotopy to lie in a union of $n$ parallel tori tubed by $n-1$ tubes so that $K$ intersects each tube in two spanning arcs, which we call a leveling of the position. The minimal…
We determine a simple condition on a particular state graph of an alternating knot or link diagram that characterizes when the unoriented genus and crosscap number coincide, extending work of Adams and Kindred. Building on this same work…
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…
Any knot group is the image of the group of a prime knot by a homomorphism that preserves peripheral structure. In fact, there are infinitely many such prime knots. A related partial order on knots is defined, and its properties are…
The average genus of a 2-bridge knot with crossing number $c$ approaches $\frac{c}{4} + \frac{1}{12}$ as $c$ approaches infinity, as proven by Suzuki and Tran and independently Cohen and Lowrance. In this paper, for the genera of $2$-bridge…
We enumerate weighted graphs with a certain upper bound condition. We also compute the generating function of the numbers of these graphs, and prove that it is a rational function. In particular, we show that if the given graph is a…
The theory of tunnel number 1 knots detailed in our previous paper, The tree of knot tunnels, provides a non-negative integer invariant called the depth of the tunnel. We give various results related to the depth invariant. Noting that it…
Let $c_n$ denote the number of nodes at a distance $n$ from the root of a rooted tree. A criterion for proving the rationality and computing the rational generating function of the sequence $\{c_n\}$ is described. This criterion is applied…
Frequently, knots are enumerated by their crossing number. However, the number of knots with crossing number $c$ grows exponentially with $c$, and to date computer-assisted proofs can only classify diagrams up to around twenty crossings.…
In a previous work, the first and third authors studied a random knot model for all two-bridge knots using billiard table diagrams. Here we present a closed formula for the distribution of the crossing numbers of such random knots. We also…
The $\Delta$-unknotting number for a knot is defined as the minimum number of $\Delta$-moves needed to deform the knot into the trivial knot. We determine the $\Delta$-unknotting numbers for two-bridge knots of type $C(2\beta_1, 2\beta_2,…
We study the equivariant concordance classes of two-bridge knots, providing an easy formula to compute their butterfly polynomial, and we give two different proofs that no two-bridge knot is equivariantly slice. Finally, we introduce a new…
We construct a map from knots to (abstract) 2-knots which can be extended to higher dimensions; this map is the natural "knot" counterpart for "braid" theory of groups $G_{n}^{k}$.