Related papers: Classifying the surface-knot modules

We provide three 3-dimensional characterizations of the Z-slice genus of a knot, the minimal genus of a locally-flat surface in 4-space cobounding the knot whose complement has cyclic fundamental group: in terms of balanced algebraic…

The classical abelian invariants of a knot are the Alexander module, which is the first homology group of the the unique infinite cyclic covering space of S^3-K, considered as a module over the (commutative) Laurent polynomial ring, and the…

We characterize the first Alexander Z[Z]-modules of ribbon surface-links in the 4-sphere fixing the number of components and the total genus, and then the first Alexander Z[Z]-modules of surface-links in the 4-sphere fixing the number of…

Let $\Gamma_g$ be the fundamental group of a closed connected orientable surface of genus $g\geq2$. We introduce a combinatorial structure of "core surfaces", that represent subgroups of $\Gamma_g$. These structures are (usually)…

We show that the problem of deciding whether a knot in a fixed closed orientable 3-dimensional manifold bounds a surface of genus at most $g$ is in co-NP. This answers a question of Agol, Hass, and Thurston in 2002. Previously, this was…

In an earlier work, we introduced a family of t-modified knot Floer homologies, defined by modifying the construction of knot Floer homology HFK-minus. The resulting groups were then used to define concordance homomorphisms indexed by t in…

In the complement of a hyperbolic Montesinos knot with 4 rational tangles, we investigate the number of closed, connected, essential, orientable surfaces of a fixed genus $g$, up to isotopy. We show that there are exactly 12 genus 2…

We prove that the separated curve complex of a closed orientable surface of genus g is (g-3)-connected. We also obtain a connectivity property for a separated curve complex of the open surface that is obtained by removing a finite set from…

We introduce a geometric invariant of knots in the three-sphere, called the first-order genus, that is derived from certain 2-complexes called gropes, and we show it is computable for many examples. While computing this invariant, we draw…

A knotted surface in the 4-sphere may be described by means of a hyperbolic diagram that captures the 0-section of a special Morse function, called a hyperbolic decomposition. We show that every hyperbolic decomposition of a knotted surface…

We give a survey of the theory of surface braid groups and the lower algebraic K-theory of their group rings. We recall several definitions and describe various properties of surface braid groups, such as the existence of torsion,…

Let $\mathrm{Mod}(S_g)$ be the mapping class group of the closed orientable surface $S_g$ of genus $g\geq 2$. In this paper, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions under which two torsion elements in $\mathrm{Mod}(S_g)$ will have…

Given a (genus 2) cube-with-holes M, i.e. the complement in S^3 of a handlebody H, we relate intrinsic properties of M (like its cut number) with extrinsic features depending on the way the handlebody H is knotted in S^3. Starting from a…

This note is devoted to a trick which yields almost trivial proofs that certain complexes associated to topological surfaces are connected or simply connected. Applications include new proofs that the complexes of curves, separating curves,…

We study compact orientable essential surfaces in knot exteriors in the 3-sphere. The genus $g$, the number of boundary components $b$, and the boundary slope $p/q$ are fundamental invariants of an essential surface. The \textit{realization…

We exhibit the first example of a knot in the three-sphere with a pair of minimal genus Seifert surfaces that can be distinguished using the sutured Floer homology of their complementary manifolds together with the Spin^c-grading. This…

The primary objects of study in the ``knot theory of complex plane curves'' are C-links: links (or knots) cut out of a 3-sphere in the complex plane by complex plane transverse and totally tangential. Transverse C-links are naturally…

The concordance group of knots in the three-sphere contains an infinite subgroup generated by elements of order two, each one of which is represented by a knot K with the property that for every n > 0, the n-fold cyclic cover of S^3…

The concordance genus of a knot K is the minimum Seifert genus of all knots smoothly concordant to K. Concordance genus is bounded below by the 4-ball genus and above by the Seifert genus. We give a lower bound for the concordance genus of…

This paper is a major step in the classification of endotrivial modules over p-groups. Let G be a finite p-group and k be a field of characteristic p. A kG-module M is an endo-trivial module if {\End_k(M)\cong k\oplus F} as kG-modules,…