Related papers: An extended symmetric union and its Alexander poly…

The mock Alexander polynomial is an extension of the classical Alexander polynomial, defined and studied for (virtual) knots and knotoids by the second and third authors. In this paper we consider the mock Alexander polynomial for…

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…

We present an enhanced prime decomposition theorem for knots that gives the isotopy classes of composite knots that can be constructed from a given list of prime factors (allowing for the mirroring and orientation reversing for each…

We say that a knot $k_1$ in the $3$-sphere {\it $1$-dominates} another $k_2$ if there is a proper degree 1 map $E(k_1) \to E(k_2)$ between their exteriors, and write $k_1 \ge k_2$. When $k_1 \ge k_2$ but $k_1 \ne k_2$ we write $k_1 > k_2$.…

A partial order on the set of prime knots can be defined by the existence of an epimorphism between knot groups. We prove that all the prime knots with up to $6$ crossings are minimal. We also show that each fibered knot with the…

We show that given n>0, there exists a hyperbolic knot K with trivial Alexander polynomial, trivial finite type invariants of order <=n, and such that the volume of the complement of K is larger than n. This contrasts with the known…

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…

A partial order on prime knots can be defined by declaring $J\ge K$ if there exists an epimorphism from the knot group of $J$ onto the knot group of $K$. Suppose that $J$ is a 2-bridge knot that is strictly greater than $m$ distinct,…

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…

We give a survey of some recent papers by the authors and Masaaki Wada relating the twisted Alexander polynomial with a partial order on the set of prime knots. We also give examples and pose open problems.

Let p be an odd prime and D_p a dihedral group of order 2p. Let \rho: G(K) --> D_p --> GL(p,Z) be a non-abelian representation of the knot group G(K) of a knot K in 3-sphere. Let \Delta_{\rho,K} (t) be the twisted Alexander polynomial of K…

In this paper we present a sequence of link invariants, defined from twisted Alexander polynomials, and discuss their effectiveness in distinguish knots. In particular, we recast and extend by geometric means a recent result of Silver and…

We introduce a version of the Alexander polynomial for singular knots and tangles and show how it can be strengthened considerably by introducing a perturbation. For singular long knots, we also prove that our Alexander polynomial agrees…

It is well-known:Suppose there are three 1-dimensional links $K_+$, $K_-$, $K_0$ such that $K_+$, $K_-$, and $K_0$ coincide out of a 3-ball $B$ trivially embedded in $S^3$ and that $K_+\cap B$, $K_-\cap B$, and $K_0\cap B$ are drawn as…

To every knot (or link) diagram K, we associate a cluster algebra A that contains a cluster x with the property that every cluster variable in x specializes to the Alexander polynomial of K. We call x the knot cluster of A. Furthermore,…

The twisted Alexander polynomial of a knot is defined associated to a linear representation of the knot group. If there exists a surjective homomorphism of a knot group onto a finite group, then we obtain a representation of the knot group…

We extend knot contact homology to a theory over the ring $\mathbb{Z}[\lambda^{\pm 1},\mu^{\pm 1}]$, with the invariant given topologically and combinatorially. The improved invariant, which is defined for framed knots in $S^3$ and can be…

We construct new knot polynomials. Let $V$ be the standard solid torus in 3-space and let $pr$ be its standard projection onto an annulus. Let $M$ be the space of all smooth oriented knots in $V$ such that the restriction of $pr$ is an…

A fixed knot $K$ acts via Murasugi sum on the space $\mathcal{S}$ of isotopy classes of knots. This operation endows $\mathcal{S}$ with a directed graph structure denoted by $M\kern-1pt SG(K)$. We show that any given family of knots in…

In the early 1980's Mike Freedman showed that all knots with trivial Alexander polynomial are topologically slice (with fundamental group Z). This paper contains the first new examples of topologically slice knots. In fact, we give a…