Related papers: The non-orientable 4-genus for knots with 10 cross…

To a Seifert matrix of a knot K one can associate a matrix w(K) with entries in the rational function field, Q(t). The Murasugi, Milnor, and Levine-Tristram knot signatures, all of which provide bounds on the 4-genus of a knot, are…

We use the rational Witt class of a knot in the 3-sphere as a tool for addressing questions about its unknotting number. We apply these tools to several low crossing knots (151 knots with 11 crossing and 100 knots with 12 crossings) and to…

In knot concordance three genera arise naturally, g(K), g_4(K), and g_c(K): these are the classical genus, the 4-ball genus, and the concordance genus, defined to be the minimum genus among all knots concordant to K. Clearly 0 <= g_4(K) <=…

We consider a relation between two kinds of unknotting numbers defined by using a band surgery on unoriented knots; the band-unknotting number and H(2)-unknotting number, which we may characterize in terms of the first Betti number of…

We introduce two numerical invariants, the waist and the trunk of knots. The waist of a closed incompressible surface in the complement of a knot is defined as the minimal intersection number of all compressing disks for the surface in the…

A knot in the 3-sphere is said to have zero negative unknotting number if it can be transformed into the unknot by performing only positive crossing changes. In this paper, we provide an obstruction for a knot to having zero negative…

Expanding on work by Conway, Orson, and Powell, we study the isotopy classes rel. boundary of nonorientable, compact, locally flatly embedded surfaces in $D^4$ with knot group $\mathbb{Z}_2$. In particular we show that if two such surfaces…

We discuss an "extrinsic" property of knots in a 3-subspace of the 3-sphere $S^3$ to characterize how the subspace is embedded in $S^3$. Specifically, we show that every knot in a subspace of the 3-sphere is transient if and only if the…

For a torus knot K, we bound the crosscap number c(K) in terms of the genus g(K) and crossing number n(K): c(K) \leq [(g(K)+9)/6] and c(K) \leq [(n(K) + 16)/12]. The (6n-2,3) torus knots show that these bounds are sharp.

We investigate the nonorientable 4-genus $\gamma_4$ of a special family of 2-bridge knots, the twist knots and double twist knots $C(m,n)$. Because the nonorientable 4-genus is bounded by the nonorientable 3-genus, it is known that…

For some families of two-bridge knots, including double-twist knots with genus at least four, we determine precisely the set of integers $n>1$ such that the fundamental group of the $n$-fold cyclic branched cover of the 3-sphere along these…

Ascending numbers are determined for 64 knots with at most n=10 crossings. After proving the theorem about the signature of alternating knot families, we distinguished all families of knots obtained from generating alternating knots with at…

We study three knot invariants related to smoothly immersed disks in the four-ball. These are the four-ball crossing number, which is the minimal number of normal double points of such a disk bounded by a given knot; the slicing number,…

We show that the difference between the genus and the stable topological 4-genus of alternating knots is either zero or at least 1/3.

We introduce a geometric invariant of knots in the three-sphere, called the first-order genus, that is derived from certain 2-complexes called gropes, and we show it is computable for many examples. While computing this invariant, we draw…

We classify nonnegatively curved simply connected 4-manifolds with circle symmetry up to equivariant diffeomorphisms. The main problem is rule out knotted curves in the singular set of the orbit space. As an extension of this work we…

It has long been known that the quadratic term in the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot is bounded above in terms of the crossing number of the knot. We show that this bound is sharp if and only if the knot is adequate. As an…

We present a lower bound on the stable $4$-genus of a knot based on Casson-Gordon $\tau$-signatures. We compute the lower bound for an infinite family of knots, the twist knots, and show that a twist knot is torsion in the knot concordance…

A quadrisecant line is one which intersects a curve in at least four points, while an essential secant captures something about the knottedness of a knot. This survey article gives a brief history of these ideas, and shows how they may be…

We consider the relationship between the crosscap number $\gamma$ of knots and a partial order on the set of all prime knots, which is defined as follows. For two knots $K$ and $J$, we say $K \geq J$ if there exists an epimorphism…