Related papers: Stiff knots
A classical knot is described by a one-stroke trajectory with entanglements of a string. The replica method appears as a powerful tool in statistical mechanics for a polymer or self-avoiding walk. We consider this replica N to 0 limit in…
We extend knot Floer homology to string links in D^{2} \times I and to d-based links in arbitrary three manifolds, without any hypothesis on the null-homology of the components. As for knot Floer homology we obtain a description of the…
We investigate the elastic behavior of knotted loops of springy wire. To this end we minimize the classic bending energy $E_{\text{bend}}=\int\kappa^2$ together with a small multiple of ropelength $\mathcal R=\text{length}/\text{thickness}$…
A knot theory for two-dimensional square lattice is proposed, which sheds light on design of new two-dimensional material with high topological numbers. We consider a two-band model, focusing on the Hall conductance {\sigma}xy = e^2/hbar*P,…
A coarse-grained computational model is used to investigate how the bending rigidity of a polymer under tension affects the formation of a trefoil knot. Thermodynamic integration techniques are applied to demonstrate that the free-energy…
Knotted proteins embed a physical (i.e., open) knot within their native structures. For decades, significant effort has been devoted to elucidating the functional role of knots in proteins, yet no consensus has been reached. Here, using…
In 2000, Thomas Fink and Young Mao studied neck ties and, with certain assumptions, found 85 different ways to tie a neck tie. They gave a formal language which describes how a tie is made, giving a sequence of moves for each neck tie. The…
A linear stability analysis of twisted flux-tubes (strings) in an SU(2) semilocal theory -- an Abelian-Higgs model with two charged scalar fields with a global SU(2) symmetry -- is carried out. Here the twist refers to a relative phase…
We classify 3-braid knots whose topological 4-genus coincides with their Seifert genus, using McCoy's twisting method and the Xu normal form. In addition, we give upper bounds for the topological 4-genus of positive and strongly…
We consider mechanically generated molecular braids composed of two molecules where long range interactions between them can be considered to be very weak. We describe a model that takes account of the thermal fluctuations of the braid,…
The square lattice with central forces between nearest neighbors is isostatic with a subextensive number of floppy modes. It can be made rigid by the random addition of next-nearest neighbor bonds. This constitutes a rigidity percolation…
We investigate experimentally the distribution of configurations of a ring with an elementary topological constraint, a ``figure-8'' twist. Using vibrated granular chains, which permit controlled preparation and direct observation of such a…
We determine the equilibria of a rigid loop in the plane, subject to the constraints of fixed length and fixed enclosed area. Rigidity is characterized by an energy functional quadratic in the curvature of the loop. We find that the area…
The ropelength of a knot is the quotient of its length and its thickness, the radius of the largest embedded normal tube around the knot. We prove existence and regularity for ropelength minimizers in any knot or link type; these are…
The main open problem in geometric knot theory is to provide a tabulation of knots based on an energy criterion, with the goal of presenting this tabulation in terms of global energy minimisers within isotopy classes, often referred to as…
This paper presents a novel framework for studying knotted and braided configurations of optical fields, moving beyond the conventional Hopfion solution based on the Hopf fibration. By employing the Seifert fibration, a preferred framing is…
We present a systematic classification of uncolored bonded knots with singularity number at most seven. Bonded knots provide a topological model for closed protein chains with intramolecular bridges, such as disulfide bonds. Following the…
We study Kauffman's model of folded ribbon knots: knots made of a thin strip of paper folded flat in the plane. The folded ribbonlength is the length to width ratio of such a ribbon knot. We give upper bounds on the folded ribbonlength of…
We give a simple obstruction for a knot to be amphichiral, in terms of the homology of the 2-fold branched cover. We work with unoriented knots, and so obstruct both positive and negative amphichirality.
Based on an estimate of the knot entropy of a worm-like chain we predict that the interplay of bending energy and confinement entropy will result in a compact metastable configuration of the knot that will diffuse, without spreading, along…