Related papers: Twisted Knots and the Perturbed Alexander Invarian…
We extend recent work by Howie, Mathews and Purcell to simplify the calculation of A-polynomials for any family of hyperbolic knots related by twisting. The main result follows from the observation that equations defining the deformation…
We consider an algebra of (classical or virtual) tangles over an ordered circuit operad and introduce Conway-type invariants of tangles which respect this algebraic structure. The resulting invariants contain both the coefficients of the…
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…
A {\it stuck knot} is a knot diagram containing designated crossings, called {\it stuck crossings}, whose incident strands are required to remain locally non-separable. These rigidity constraints restrict the allowable ambient isotopies and…
We establish homotopy ribbon concordance obstructions coming from the Blanchfield form and Levine-Tristram signatures. Then, as an application of twisted Alexander polynomials, we show that for every knot K with nontrivial Alexander…
In this paper, a regional knot invariant is constructed. Like the Wirtinger presentation of a knot group, each planar region contributes a generator, and each crossing contributes a relation. The invariant is call a tridle of the link. As…
X.S. Lin's original definition of twisted Alexander knot polynomial is generalized for arbitrary finitely presented groups. J. Cha's fibering obstruction theorem is generalized. The group of a nontrivial virtual knot shown by L. Kauffman to…
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…
One construction of the Alexander polynomial is as a quantum invariant associated with representations of restricted quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_2$ at a fourth root of unity. We generalize this construction to define a link invariant…
By a recent result of Livingston, it is known that if a knot has a prime power branched cyclic cover that is not a homology sphere, then there is an infinite family of non-concordant knots having the same Seifert form as the knot. In this…
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…
This is the first in a series of papers studying w-knotted objects (w-knots, w-braids, w-tangles, etc.), which make a class of knotted objects which is {w}ider but {w}eaker than their usual counterparts. The group of w-braids was studied…
We study the distribution of arithmetic invariants associated to Alexander polynomials for certain infinite families of links. The families of links we consider arise from braids on a fixed number of strings. We explore analogies with…
Let $\mathcal{L}$ be a knot with a fixed positive crossing and $\mathcal{L}_n$ the link obtained by replacing this crossing with $n$ positive twists. We prove that the knot Floer homology $\widehat{\text{HFK}}(\mathcal{L}_n)$ `stabilizes'…
We construct two complete invariants of oriented classical knots in space. The value of each invariant on any knot is a set, infinite for the first invariant and finite for the second. The finite set is computed algorithmically from any…
Fox conjectured the Alexander polynomial of an alternating knot is trapezoidal, i.e. the coefficients first increase, then stabilize and finally decrease in a symmetric way. Recently, Hirasawa and Murasugi further conjectured a relation…
For a knot K in S^3, let T(K) be the characteristic toric sub-orbifold of the orbifold (S^3,K) as defined by Bonahon and Siebenmann. If K has unknotting number one, we show that an unknotting arc for K can always be found which is disjoint…
We study knots whose $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})$-character varieties have a component of dimension greater than one. We call such knots $\mathcal{X}$-large and introduce two diagrammatic constructions that produce $\mathcal{X}$-large knots.…
This article provides an overview of relative strengths of polynomial invariants of knots and links, such as the Alexander, Jones, Homflypt, Kaufman two-variable polynomial, and Khovanov polynomial.
This thesis develops some general calculational techniques for finding the orders of knots in the topological concordance group C. The techniques currently available in the literature are either too theoretical, applying to only a small…