Related papers: Band-unknotting numbers and connected sums of knot…

We give the first examples of a pair of knots $K_1$,$K_2$ in the 3-sphere for which their unknotting numbers satisfy $u(K_1\#K_2)<u(K_1)+u(K_2)$ . This answers question 1.69(B) from Kirby's problem list, "Problems in low-dimensional…

We show that the knots $K\in\{4_1,5_1\}$ can be paired with a corresponding knot $K^\prime$ such that $u(K\#K^\prime)<u(K)+u(K^\prime)$. As a consequence unknotting number fails to be additive for these knots. We also provide a candidate…

We consider a relation between two kinds of unknotting numbers defined by using a band surgery on unoriented knots; the band-unknotting number and H(2)-unknotting number, which we may characterize in terms of the first Betti number of…

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 study symmetric crossing change operations for strongly invertible knots. Our main theorem is that the most natural notion of equivariant unknotting number is not additive under connected sum, in contrast with the longstanding conjecture…

We show that a band-connected sum of knots $K_0$ and $K_1$ along a band $b$ is equal to the connected sum $K_0\# K_1$ if and only if $b$ is a trivial band.

The (ordinary) unknotting-number of 1-dimensional knots, which is defined by using the crossing-change, is a very basic and important invariant. It is very natural to consider the `unknotting-number' associated with other local-moves on…

We give an obstruction to unknotting a knot by adding a twisted band, derived from Heegaard Floer homology.

If the tunnel number of a link $K$ is denoted $t(K)$, a pair of knots $K_1,K_2$ is said to be subadditive if $t(K_1)+t(K_2)>t(K_1 # K_2)$. We construct new examples of subadditive links.

We study the behavior of Legendrian and transverse knots under the operation of connected sums. As a consequence we show that there exist Legendrian knots that are not distinguished by any known invariant. Moreover, we classify Legendrian…

We show that if a fibered knot $K$ is expressed as a band--connected sum of $K_1, \ldots, K_n$, then each $K_i$ is fibered, and the genus of $K$ is greater than or equal to that of the connected sum of $K_1,\ldots,K_n$.

A knot K is called n-adjacent to the unknot, if K admits a projection containing n generalized crossings such that changing any m (no larger than n) of them yields a projection of the unknot. We show that a non-trivial satellite knot K is…

For a knot K, let b_n(K) be the minimum length of an n-stranded braid representative of K. Examples of knots exist for which b_n(K) is a non-increasing function. We investigate the behavior of b_n(K). We develop bounds on the function in…

Given a knot K in S^3, let u^-(K) (respectively, u^+(K)) denote the minimum number of negative (respectively, positive) crossing changes among all unknotting sequences for K. We use knot Floer homology to construct the invariants l^-(K),…

We study the double slice genus of a knot, a natural generalization of slice genus. We define a notion called band number, a natural generalization of band unknotting number, and prove it is an upper bound on double slice genus. Our bound…

We demonstrate that the equivariant unknotting number $\widetilde{u}(K)$ of a strongly invertible knot $K$ is bounded below by the $H$-torsion order $\widetilde{\mathrm{ord}}(K)$ of the involutive Bar-Natan homology…

This paper concerns the H(2)-unknotting numbers of links related to 2-bridge links. It consists of three parts. In the first part, we consider a necessary and sufficient condition for a 2-bridge link to have H(2)-unknotting number one. The…

The unknotting number of knots is a difficult quantity to compute, and even its behavior under basic satelliting operations is not understood. We establish a lower bound on the unknotting number of cable knots and iterated cable knots…

We define a broad class of graphs that generalize the Gordian graph of knots. These knot graphs take into account unknotting operations, the concordance relation, and equivalence relations generated by knot invariants. We prove that…

It has been conjectured that for knots $K$ and $K'$ in $S^3$, $w(K#K')= w(K)+w(K')-2$. Scharlemann and Thompson have proposed potential counterexamples to this conjecture. For every $n$, they proposed a family of knots ${K^n_i}$ for which…