Related papers: Shadows of 2-knots and complexity

In this article, we present some of the properties of the $L^2$-Alexander invariant of a knot defined by Li and Zhang, some of which are similar to those of the classical Alexander polynomial. Notably we prove that the $L^2$-Alexander…

We show that two knots have matching Vassiliev invariants of order less than n if and only if they are equivalent modulo the nth group of the lower central series of some pure braid group, thus characterizing Vassiliev's knot invariants in…

In mathematics there is a wide class of knot invariants that may be expressed in the form of multiple line integrals computed along the trajectory C describing the spatial conformation of the knot. In this work it is addressed the problem…

We introduce a new invariant of tangles along with an algebraic framework in which to understand it. We claim that the invariant contains the classical Alexander polynomial of knots and its multivariable extension to links. We argue that of…

We explore a knot invariant derived from colorings of corresponding $1$-tangles with arbitrary connected quandles. When the quandle is an abelian extension of a certain type the invariant is equivalent to the quandle $2$-cocycle invariant.…

We provide a geometric construction of the boundary states for handlebodies which we in turn use to give a geometric formula for the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev quantum invariants. We then analyze the asymptotics of this invariant in the…

Holonomy invariants in strict higher gauge theory have been studied in depth, aiming to applications to higher Chern-Simons theory. For a flat 2-connection, the holonomy of surface knots of arbitrary genus has been defined and its…

The first and last named authors have demonstrated the existence of knots for which every integral slope is non-characterizing. In this short note, we extend this result in two ways. There exists a knot that shares for every integer n the…

We consider Open Gromov-Witten invariants for noncompact Calabi-Yau in the case the Lagrangian has the topology of $\R^2 \times S^1$. The definition of the invariant involves the choice of a frame for the Lagrangian, in accord with string…

Chern-Simons gauge theory for compact semisimple groups is analyzed from a perturbation theory point of view. The general form of the perturbative series expansion of a Wilson line is presented in terms of the Casimir operators of the gauge…

We look into computational aspects of two classical knot invariants. We look for ways of simplifying the computation of the coloring invariant and of the Alexander module. We support our ideas with explicit computations on pretzel knots.

Let $K\subset S^4$ be a 2-knot, that is, a smoothly embedded 2-sphere in $S^4$. The Morse-Novikov number $\mathcal M\mathcal N(K)$ is the minimal possible number of critical points of a Morse map $S^4\setminus K\to S^1$ belonging to the…

Every knot can be unknotted with two generalized twists; this was first proved by Ohyama. Here we prove that any knot of genus g can be unknotted with 2g null-homologous twists and that there exist genus g knots that cannot be unknotted…

We construct two distinct yet related M-theory models that provide suitable frameworks for the study of knot invariants. We then focus on the four-dimensional gauge theory that follows from appropriately compactifying one of these M-theory…

By using the notion of a rigid R-matrix in a monoidal category and the Reshetikhin--Turaev functor on the category of tangles, we review the definition of the associated invariant of long knots. In the framework of the monoidal categories…

A shadow of a geometric object $A$ in a given direction $v$ is the orthogonal projection of $A$ on the hyperplane orthogonal to $v$. We show that any topological embedding of a circle into Euclidean $d$-space can have at most two shadows…

An elementary introduction to knot theory and its link to quantum field theory is presented with an intention to provide details of some basic calculations in the subject, which are not easily found in texts. Study of Chern-Simons theory…

We construct an infinite family of hyperbolic, homologically thin knots that are not quasi-alternating. To establish the latter, we argue that the branched double-cover of each knot in the family does not bound a negative definite…

Torus knots are an important family of knots about which much is understood; invariants of torus knots often exhibit nice formulas, making them convenient and fundamental building blocks for examples in knot theory. Spiral knots, defined…

Let $K$ be a knot with an unknotting tunnel $\gamma$ and suppose that $K$ is not a 2-bridge knot. There is an invariant $\rho = p/q \in \mathbb{Q}/2 \mathbb{Z}$, $p$ odd, defined for the pair $(K, \gamma)$. The invariant $\rho$ has…