Related papers: Minimal crossing number implies minimal supporting…
In this paper, a link diagram is said to be minimal if no Reidemeister move I or II can be applied to it to reduce the number of crossings. We show that for an arbitrary diagram D of a link without a trivial split component, a minimal…
We prove that the length of any gap in the differential grading of the Khovanov homology of any quasi-alternating link is one. As a consequence, we obtain that the length of any gap in the Jones polynomial of any such link is one. This…
A well-known algorithm for unknotting knots involves traversing a knot diagram and changing each crossing that is first encountered from below. The minimal number of crossings changed in this way across all diagrams for a knot is called the…
A virtual link diagram is called {\em (mod $m$) almost classical} if it admits a (mod $m$) Alexander numbering. In \cite{BodenGaudreauHarperNicasWhite}, it is shown that Alexander polynomial for almost classical links can be defined by…
Functorial maps and weak parities are equivalent descriptions of rules of substitution virtual crossings for classical in diagrams of a knot in a way compatible with Reidemeister moves. We introduce the notion of maximal weak parity and…
Alexander group systems for virtual long knots are defined and used to show that any virtual knot is the closure of infinitely many long virtual knots. Manturov's result that there exists a pair of long virtual knots that do not commute is…
Given a group endowed with a Z/2-valued morphism we associate a Gauss diagram theory, and show that for a particular choice of the group these diagrams encode faithfully virtual knots on a given arbitrary surface. This theory contains all…
We introduce an up-down coloring of a virtual-link diagram. The colorabilities give a lower bound of the minimum number of Reidemeister moves of type II which are needed between two 2-component virtual-link diagrams. By using the notion of…
We construct new invariant polynomial for long virtual knots. It is a generalization of Alexander polynomial. We designate it by $\zeta$ meaning an analogy with $\zeta$-polynomial for virtual links. A degree of $\zeta$-polynomial estimates…
We show that every quasipositive link has a quasipositive minimal braid representative, partially resolving a question posed by Orevkov. These quasipositive minimal braids are used to show that the maximal self-linking number of a…
We show that there is a knot satisfying the property that for each minimal crossing number diagram of the knot and each single crossing of the diagram, changing the crossing results in a diagram for a knot whose unknotting number is at…
Given a graph G, a real orthogonal representation of G is a function from its set of vertices to R^d such that two vertices are mapped to orthogonal vectors if and only if they are not neighbors. The minimum vector rank of a graph is the…
A Gauss diagram is a simple, combinatorial way to present a knot. It is known that any Vassiliev invariant may be obtained from a Gauss diagram formula that involves counting (with signs and multiplicities) subdiagrams of certain…
We show that determining the crossing number of a link is NP-hard. For some weaker notions of link equivalence, we also show NP-completeness.
A vertex k-ranking is a labeling of the vertices of a graph with integers from 1 to k so any path connecting two vertices with the same label will pass through a vertex with a greater label. The rank number of a graph is defined to be the…
A quadruple crossing is a crossing in a projection of a knot or link that has four strands of the knot passing straight through it. A quadruple crossing projection is a projection such that all of the crossings are quadruple crossings. In a…
This paper is an introduction to the theory of virtual knots and links and it gives a list of unsolved problems in this subject.
It is well known that the braid index of a link equals the minimum number of Seifert circles among all link diagrams representing it. For a link with a reduced alternating diagram $D$, $s(D)$, the number of Seifert circles in $D$, equals…
We prove that the genus of the Turaev surface of a link diagram is determined by a graph whose vertices correspond to the boundary components of the maximal alternating regions of the link diagram. Furthermore, we use these graphs to…
The concordance genus of a knot is the least genus of any knot in its concordance class. Although difficult to compute, it is a useful invariant that highlights the distinction between the three-genus and four-genus. In this paper we define…