Related papers: Trisected Rainbows and Braids
A rectangle in the plane can be continuously deformed preserving its edge lengths, but adding a diagonal brace prevents such a deformation. Bolker and Crapo characterized combinatorially which choices of braces make a grid of squares…
Consider a graph drawn on a surface (for example, the plane minus a finite set of obstacle points), possibly with crossings. We provide an algorithm to decide whether such a drawing can be untangled, namely, if one can slide the vertices…
We study decomposition into simple arcs (i. e., arcs without self-intersections) for diagrams of knots and spatial graphs. In this paper, it is proved in particular that if no edge of a finite spatial graph $G$ is a knotted loop, then there…
We construct closed embedded minimal surfaces in the round three-sphere, resembling two parallel copies of the equatorial two-sphere, joined by small catenoidal bridges symmetrically arranged either along two parallel circles of the…
Minimum braids are a complete invariant of knots and links. This paper defines minimum braids, describes how they can be generated, presents tables for knots up to ten crossings and oriented links up to nine crossings, and uses minimum…
Tait's flyping conjecture, stating that two reduced, alternating, prime link diagrams can be connected by a finite sequence of flypes, is extended to reduced, alternating, prime diagrams of 4-regular graphs in S^3. The proof of this version…
To a closed braid in a solid torus we associate a trace graph in a thickened torus in such a way that closed braids are isotopic if and only if their trace graphs can be related by trihedral and tetraherdal moves. For closed braids with a…
Stirring of fluid with moving rods is necessary in many practical applications to achieve homogeneity. These rods are topological obstacles that force stretching of fluid elements. The resulting stretching and folding is commonly observed…
We determine the relationship between the contact structure induced by a fibered knot, K, in the three-sphere and the contact structures induced by its various cables. Understanding this relationship allows us to classify fibered cable…
We describe a method for generating minimal hard prime surface-link diagrams. We extend the known examples of minimal hard prime classical unknot and unlink diagrams up to three components and generate figures of all minimal hard prime…
A formula that relates triple points, branch points, and their distances from infinity is presented. We recover trivial normal Euler classes for oriented surfaces, and formulas on signed triple points.
We present a simple combinatorial model for quasipositive surfaces and positive braids, based on embedded bipartite graphs. As a first application, we extend the well-known duality on standard diagrams of torus links to twisted torus links.…
An upper bound of the superbridge index of the connected sum of two knots is given in terms of the braid index of the summands. Using this upper bound and minimal polygonal presentations, we give an upper bound in terms of the superbridge…
Back in the Eighties, Heath showed that every 3-planar graph is subhamiltonian and asked whether this result can be extended to a class of graphs of degree greater than three. In this paper we affirmatively answer this question for the…
The notion of a braid is generalized into two and three dimensions. Two-dimensional braids are described by braid monodromies or graphics called charts. In this paper we introduce the notion of curtains, and show that three-dimensional…
A path in an edge-colored graph is \textit{rainbow} if no two edges of it are colored the same. The graph is said to be \textit{rainbow connected} if there is a rainbow path between every pair of vertices. If there is a rainbow shortest…
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…
Simplicial surfaces describe the incidence relations between vertices, edges and faces of triangulated 2-dimensional manifolds in a purely combinatorial way. By considering only the incidences of edges and faces, simplicial surfaces are…
Two infinite sequences of minimal surfaces in space are constructed using symmetry analysis. In particular, explicit formulas are obtained for the self-intersecting minimal surface that fills the trefoil knot.
Experimental data from Dunfield et al using random grid diagrams suggests that the genus of a knot grows linearly with respect to the crossing number. Using billiard table diagrams of Chebyshev knots developed by Koseleff and Pecker and a…