Related papers: On unknotting fibered positive knots and braids
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…
In this paper, we show 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.
We analyze properties of links which have diagrams with a small number of negative crossings. We show that if a nontrivial link has a diagram with all crossings positive except possibly one, then the signature of the link is negative. If a…
We analyze all monodromies of genus one fibered knots that possess clean or once-unclean arcs, and use this to determine all manifolds containing genus one fibered knots with generalized crossing changes resulting in another genus one…
Let $u(K)$ and $g(K)$ denote the unknotting number and the genus of a knot $K$, respectively. For a 3-braid knot $K$, we show that $u(K)\le g(K)$ holds, and that if $u(K)=g(K)$ then $K$ is either a 2-braid knot, a connected sum of two…
We give examples of knots with some unusual properties of the crossing number of positive diagrams or strand number of positive braid representations. In particular we show that positive braid knots may not have positive minimal (strand…
Using the recent Gauss diagram formulas for Vassiliev invariants of Polyak-Viro-Fiedler and combining these formulas with the Bennequin inequality, we prove several inequalities for positive knots relating their Vassiliev invariants, genus…
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.
It was asked by J.Birman, Williams, and L.Rudolph whether nontrivial Lorentz knots have always positive signature. Lorentz knots are examples of positive braids (in our convention they have all crossings negative so they are negative…
For any knot with genus one and unknotting number one, other than the figure-eight knot, we prove that there is exactly one way to unknot it by means of a crossing change. In the case of the figure-eight knot, we prove that there are…
We partially determine grid homology (combinatorial knot Floer homology) of diagonal knots, which are conjectured to be equivalent to positive braid knots, by exploiting nice grid diagrams. Its next-to-top term detects the number of prime…
We prove that if an alternating 3-braid knot has unknotting number one, then there must exist an unknotting crossing in any alternating diagram of it, and we enumerate such knots. The argument combines the obstruction to unknotting number…
The genus non-increasing totally positive unknotting number is the minimum number of crossing changes that transform a knot into the unknot, such that all the crossing changes are positive-to-negative crossing changes that do not increase…
Positive permutation braids on n strings, which are defined to be positive n-braids where each pair of strings crosses at most once, form the elementary but non-trivial building blocks in many studies of conjugacy in the braid groups. We…
We associate to every positive braid a braid monodromy group, generalizing the geometric monodromy group of an isolated plane curve singularity. If the closure of the braid is a knot, we identify the corresponding group with a framed…
We continue the study of the genus of knot diagrams, deriving a new description of generators using Hirasawa's algorithm. This description leads to good estimates on the maximal number of crossings of generators and allows us to complete…
It is shown, using sutured manifold theory, that if there are any 2-component counterexamples to the Generalized Property R Conjecture, then any knot of least genus among components of such counterexamples is not a fibered knot. The general…
We give a new upper bound on the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive link. In particular, we prove that the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive knot is at most four times the minimum degree.…
We compute the next-to-top term of knot Floer homology for positive braid links. The rank is 1 for any prime positive braid knot. We give some examples of fibered positive links that are not positive braids.
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…