Related papers: Pseudo-slice knots
Let K be a knot in S^3, and M and M' be distinct Dehn surgeries along K. We investigate when M covers M'. When K is a torus knot, we provide a complete classification of such covers. When K is a hyperbolic knot, we provide partial results…
An important difference between high dimensional smooth manifolds and smooth 4-manifolds that in a 4-manifold it is not always possible to represent every middle dimensional homology class with a smoothly embedded sphere. This is true even…
The slicing degree of a knot $K$ is defined as the smallest integer $k$ such that $K$ is $k$-slice in $\#^n \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$ for some $n$. In this paper, we establish bounds for the slicing degrees of knots using Rasmussen's…
Physical knots and links are one-dimensional submanifolds of R^3 with fixed length and thickness. We show that isotopy classes in this category can differ from those of classical knot and link theory. In particular we exhibit a Gordian…
Let $\beta:=\sigma_1\sigma_2^{-1}$ be a braid in $B_3$, where $B_3$ is the braid group on 3 strings and $\sigma_1, \sigma_2$ are the standard Artin generators. We use Gauss diagram formulas to show that for each natural number $n$ not…
We show that the commutator subgroup G' of a classical knot group G need not have subgroups of every finite index, but it will if G' has a surjective homomorphism to the integers and we give an exact criterion for that to happen. We also…
The Kakimizu complex $MS(K)$ for a knot $K\subset\mathbb{S}^3$ is the simplicial complex with vertices the isotopy classes of minimal genus Seifert surfaces in the exterior of $K$ and simplices any set of vertices with mutually disjoint…
This paper is a survey of some of the most elementary consequences of the JSJ-decomposition and geometrization for knot and link complements in the 3-sphere. Formulated in the language of graphs, the result is the construction of a…
We describe relations between hyperbolic geometry and codimension two knots or, more exactly, between varieties of conjugacy classes of discrete faithful representations of the fundamental groups of hyperbolic n-manifolds M into…
As proved by Hedden and Ording, there exist knots for which the Ozsvath-Szabo and Rasmussen smooth concordance invariants, tau and s, differ. The Hedden-Ording examples have nontrivial Alexander polynomials and are not topologically slice.…
For each three-bridge link of a certain form, we construct a taut Seifert surface for the link and establish whether the link is fibred. Using this, we also give the genus and fibredness of satellite knots whose pattern is constructed from…
We show that a small tree-decomposition of a knot diagram induces a small sphere-decomposition of the corresponding knot. This, in turn, implies that the knot admits a small essential planar meridional surface or a small bridge sphere. We…
This paper discusses some geometric ideas associated with knots in real projective 3-space $\mathbb{R}P^3$. These ideas are borrowed from classical knot theory. Since knots in $\mathbb{R}P^3$ are classified into three disjoint classes, -…
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…
We show that any closed incompressible surface in the complement of a positive knot is algebraically non-split from the knot, positive knots cannot bound non-free incompressible Seifert surfaces and that the splitability and the primeness…
We show that the subgroup of the knot concordance group generated by links of isolated complex singularities intersects the subgroup of algebraically slice knots in an infinite rank subgroup.
In a 3-manifold M, let K be a knot and R be an annulus which meets K transversely. We define the notion of the pair (R,K) being caught by a surface Q in the exterior of the link given by K and the boundary curves of R. For a caught pair…
Neuwirth asked if any non-trivial knot in the 3-sphere can be embedded in a closed surface so that the complement of the surface is a connected essential surface for the knot complement. In this paper, we examine some variations on this…
We describe a method to compute the Culler-Shalen seminorms of a knot, using the (-3,3,4) pretzel knot as an illustrative example. We deduce that the SL2(C)-character variety of this knot consists of three algebraic curves and that it…
For a knot $K$ with $\Delta_K(t)\doteq t^2-3t+1$ in a homology $3$-sphere, let $M$ be the result of $2/q$-surgery on $K$. We show that an appropriate assumption on the Reidemeister torsion of the universal abelian covering of $M$ implies…