Related papers: Strict Inequalities for the $n$-crossing Number
A multi-crossing (or n-crossing) is a singular point in a projection at which n strands cross so that each strand bisects the crossing. We generalize the classic result of Kauffman, Murasugi, and Thistlethwaite, which gives the upper bound…
In 1991, Negami found an upper bound on the stick number $s(K)$ of a nontrivial knot $K$ in terms of the minimal crossing number $c(K)$ of the knot which is $s(K) \leq 2 c(K)$. In this paper we improve this upper bound to $s(K) \leq…
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 show that for any nontrivial knot $K$ and any natural number $n$ there is a diagram $D$ of $K$ such that the unknotting number of $D$ is greater than or equal to $n$. It is well known that twice the unknotting number of $K$ is less than…
It has been conjectured that the algebraic crossing number of a link is uniquely determined in minimal braid representation. This conjecture is true for many classes of knots and links. The Morton-Franks-Williams inequality gives a lower…
Given a diagram $D$ of a knot $K$, we consider the number $c(D)$ of crossings and the number $b(D)$ of overpasses of $D$. We show that, if $D$ is a diagram of a nontrivial knot $K$ whose number $c(D)$ of crossings is minimal, then…
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…
An $n$-crossing projection of a link $L$ is a projection of $L$ onto a plane such that $n$ points on $L$ are superimposed on top of each other at every crossing. We prove that for all $k \in \mathbb{N}$ and all links $L$, the inequality…
It is a very old conjecture that the crossing number of knots is additive under connected sum. In other words, if K#K' is the connected sum of knots K and K', then does the equality c(K#K') = c(K) + c(K') hold? We prove that c(K#K') is at…
We study inequalities between integer-valued knot invariants arising from classical knot theory, four-dimensional topology, knot homologies, and knot polynomials. We present a directed graph consisting of 48 inequalities between 33 knot…
The simultaneous crossing number is a new knot invariant which is defined for strongly invertible knots having diagrams with two orthogonal transvergent axes of strong inversions. Because the composition of the two inversions gives a cyclic…
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.
Negami found an upper bound on the stick number $s(K)$ of a nontrivial knot $K$ in terms of the minimal crossing number $c(K)$ of the knot which is $s(K) \leq 2 c(K)$. Furthermore McCabe proved $s(K) \leq c(K) + 3$ for a $2$-bridge knot or…
An equilateral stick number $s_{=}(K)$ of a knot $K$ is defined to be the minimal number of sticks required to construct a polygonal knot of $K$ which consists of equal length sticks. Rawdon and Scharein [12] found upper bounds for the…
Frequently, knots are enumerated by their crossing number. However, the number of knots with crossing number $c$ grows exponentially with $c$, and to date computer-assisted proofs can only classify diagrams up to around twenty crossings.…
A triple crossing is a crossing in a projection of a knot or link that has three strands of the knot passing straight through it. A triple crossing projection is a projection such that all of the crossings are triple crossings. We prove…
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…
A conjecture proposed by J. Tripp in 2002 states that the crossing number of any knot coincides with the canonical genus of its Whitehead double. In the meantime, it has been established that this conjecture is true for a large class of…
We show that the triple-crossing number of any knot is greater or equal to twice its (canonical) genus and we show an even stronger bound in the case of links. As an application we show that this bound is strong enough to obtain the…
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…