Related papers: The concordance crosscap number and rational Witt …
For a knot K, the concordance crosscap number, c(K), is the minimum crosscap number among all knots concordant to K. Building on work of G. Zhang, which studied the determinants of knots with c(K) < 2, we apply the Alexander polynomial to…
We define the concordance crosscap number of a knot as the minimum crosscap number among all the knots concordant to the knot. The four-dimensional crosscap number is the minimum first Betti number of non-orientable surfaces smoothly…
The crosscap number of a knot is an invariant describing the non-orientable surface of smallest genus that the knot bounds. Unlike knot genus (its orientable counterpart), crosscap numbers are difficult to compute and no general algorithm…
The concordance genus of a knot K is the minimum three-genus among all knots concordant to K. For prime knots of 10 or fewer crossings there have been three knots for which the concordance genus was unknown. Those three cases are now…
By considering negative surgeries on a knot $K$ in $S^3$, we derive a lower bound to the non-orientable slice genus $\gamma_4(K)$ in terms of the signature $\sigma(K)$ and the concordance invariants $V_i(\overline{K})$, which strengthens a…
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…
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…
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) <=…
Symmetries of knots have been studied extensively, and strongly invertible knots are one of them. Lamm defined the equivariant crossing number $c_t(K)$, the minimum crossing number among all symmetric diagrams for a strongly invertible knot…
We study the minimal crossing number $c(K_{1}\# K_{2})$ of composite knots $K_{1}\# K_{2}$, where $K_1$ and $K_2$ are prime, by relating it to the minimal crossing number of spatial graphs, in particular the $2n$-theta curve…
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…
Let $\nu$ be either the Ozsv\'ath-Szab\'o $\tau$-invariant or the Rasmussen $s$-invariant, suitably normalized. For a knot $K$, Livingston and Naik defined the invariant $t_\nu(K)$ to be the minimum of $k$ for which $\nu$ of the $k$-twisted…
We use Lee's work on the Khovanov homology to define a knot invariant s. We show that s(K) is a concordance invariant and that it provides a lower bound for the slice genus of K. As a corollary, we give a purely combinatorial proof of the…
Given a diagram D of a knot K, we give easily computable bounds for Rasmussen's concordance invariant s(K). The bounds are not independent of the diagram D chosen, but we show that for diagrams satisfying a given condition the bounds are…
Let $c(K)$ denote the crossing number of a knot $K$ and let $K_1\# K_2$ denote the connected sum of two oriented knots $K_1$ and $K_2$. It is a very old unsolved question that whether $c(K_1\# K_2)=c(K_1)+c(K_2)$. In this paper we show that…
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…
Ozsvath and Szabo have defined a knot concordance invariant tau that bounds the 4-ball genus of a knot. Here we discuss shortcuts to its computation. We include examples of Alexander polynomial one knots for which the invariant is…
Building on work by Alishahi-Dowlin, we extract a new knot invariant $\lambda \ge 0$ from universal Khovanov homology. While $\lambda$ is a lower bound for the unknotting number, in fact more is true: $\lambda$ is a lower bound for the…
We construct a new family of knot concordance invariants $\theta^{(q)}(K)$, where $q$ is a prime number. Our invariants are obtained from the equivariant Seiberg-Witten-Floer cohomology, constructed by the author and Hekmati, applied to the…
The concordance genus of a knot is the least genus of any knot in its concordance class. It is bounded above by the genus of the knot, and bounded below by the slice genus, two well-studied invariants. In this paper we consider the…