Related papers: The Montesinos trick for proper rational tangle re…

We consider knot theories possessing a {\em parity}: each crossing is decreed {\em odd} or {\em even} according to some universal rule. If this rule satisfies some simple axioms concerning the behaviour under Reidemeister moves, this leads…

This paper builds a novel bridge between algebraic coding theory and mathematical knot theory, with applications in both directions. We give methods to construct error-correcting codes starting from the colorings of a knot, describing…

Let $M_{g, n}$ (respectively, $\overline{M_{g, n}}$) be the moduli space of smooth (respectively stable) curves of genus $g$ with $n$ marked points. Over the field of complex numbers, it is a classical problem in algebraic geometry to…

This is the second of three papers that refine and extend portions of our earlier preprint, "The depth of a knot tunnel." Together, they rework the entire preprint. The theory of tunnel number 1 knots that we introduced in "The tree of knot…

We give a necessary, and in some cases sufficient, condition for sliceness inside the family of pretzel knots $P (p_1,...,p_n)$ with one $p_i$ even. The three stranded case yields two interesting families of examples: the first consists of…

The cosmetic crossing conjecture posits that switching a non-trivial crossing in a knot diagram always changes the knot type. Generalizing work of Balm, Friedl, Kalfagianni and Powell, and of Lidman and Moore, we give an Alexander…

We show that every rational knot $K$ of crossing number $N$ admits a polynomial parametrization $x=T_a(t), y = T_b(t), z = C(t)$ where $T_k(t)$ are the Chebyshev polynomials, $a=3$ and $b+ \deg C = 3N.$ We show that every rational knot also…

These notes present two normal surface theory algorithms to detect the unknot and use the split-link algorithm to prove that the figure-eight knot is knotted.

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.

Neuwirth asked if any non-trivial knot in the 3-sphere can be embedded in a closed surface so that the complement of the surface is a connected essential surface for the knot complement. In this paper, we examine some variations on this…

The crosscap number of a knot in the 3-sphere is defined as the minimal first Betti number of non-orientable subsurfaces bounded by the knot. In this paper, we determine the crosscap numbers of pretzel knots. The key ingredient to obtain…

We present three large families of new examples of plumbed 3-manifolds that bound rational homology 4-balls. These are constructed using two operations, also defined here, that preserve the lack of a lattice embedding obstruction to…

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. It is known that, for positive pretzel knots, the $\Delta$-unknotting number coincides with the…

We give a criterion for distinguishing a prime knot $K$ in $S^3$ from every other knot in $S^3$ using the finite quotients of $\pi_1(S^3\setminus K)$. Using recent work of Baldwin-Sivek, we apply this criterion to the hyperbolic knots…

For each Montesinos knot $K$, we propose an efficient method to explicitly determine the irreducible ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$-character variety, and show that it can be decomposed as…

We investigate the behaviour of Rasmussen's invariant $s$ under the sharp operation on knots and obtain a lower bound for the sharp unknotting number. This bound leads us to an interesting move that transforms arbitrary knots into…

There is a natural way to associate with a transformation of an isotopy class of rational tangles to another, an element of the modular group. The correspondence between the isotopy classes of rational tangles and rational numbers follows,…

We study the properties of glued knots, a sub-class of real rational knots, that can be constructed by gluing ellipses. We define an invariant called the gluing degree and relate it to various classical properties of knots and classify all…

In Classical Knot Theory and in the new Theory of Quantum Invariants substantial effort was directed toward the search for unknotting moves on links. We solve, in this note, several classical problems concerning unknotting moves. Our…

We use a version of simulated annealing with knot-type preserving moves to find polygonal representatives of various knot types with low stick number. These give better bounds on stick numbers of prime knots through 10 crossings, and for…