Related papers: Does the Jones polynomial detect the unknot?
The unknotting number of a knot is the minimum number of crossings one must change to turn that knot into the unknot. The algebraic unknotting number is the minimum number of crossing changes needed to transform a knot into an Alexander…
In this paper we introduce a new invariant of virtual knots and links that is non-trivial for infinitely many virtuals, but is trivial on classical knots and links. The invariant is initially be expressed in terms of a relative of the…
We prove that fibred knots cannot be untied with $\bar{t}_{2k}$-moves, for all $k \geq 2$. More generally, we give an upper bound on the number of two strand twist operations that allow to untie a knot with non-trivial HOMFLY polynomial, in…
Knot theory is actively studied both by physicists and mathematicians as it provides a connecting centerpiece for many physical and mathematical theories. One of the challenging problems in knot theory is distinguishing mutant knots. Mutant…
Using the band representation of the 3-strand braid group, it is shown that the genus of 3-braid links can be read off their skein polynomial. Some applications are given, in particular a simple proof of Morton's conjectured inequality and…
The set consisting of all rotations of the Euclidean plane is equipped with a quandle structure. We show that a knot is colorable by this quandle if and only if its Alexander polynomial has a root on the unit circle in $\mathbb{C}$. Further…
We use a variation on the commutator collection process to characterize those pure braids which become trivial when any one strand is deleted, or, more generally, those pure braids which become trivial when all the strands in any one of a…
We construct families of trivial $2$-knots $K_i$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ such that the maximal complexity of $2$-knots in any isotopy connecting $K_i$ with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the…
In this paper, we show the trivializing number of all minimal diagrams of positive 2-bridge knots and study the relation between the trivializing number and the unknotting number for a part of these knots.
The contents of this 6-page paper have been subsumed into the 13-page paper, "A note on closed 3-braids", arXiv:0802.1072 [math.GT]. This paper is correct, but contains less information than the new one. The topological classification of…
We show that no torus knot of type $(2,n)$, $n>3$ odd, can be obtained from a polynomial embedding $t \mapsto (f(t), g(t), h(t))$ where $(\deg(f),\deg(g))\leq (3,n+1) $. Eventually, we give explicit examples with minimal lexicographic…
For a knot K the cube number is a knot invariant defined to be the smallest n for which there is a cube diagram of size n for K. We will show that the cube number detects chirality in all cases computed thus far, and distinguishes certain…
We give an algorithm to decide whether a given braid with four strings is a product of three factors which are conjugates of standard generators of the braid group. The algorithm is of polynomial time. It is based on the Garside theory. We…
We study the behavior of the degree of the colored Jones polynomial and the boundary slopes of knots under the operation of cabling. We show that, under certain hypothesis on this degree, if a knot $K$ satisfies the Slope Conjecture then a…
The AJ conjecture, formulated by Garoufalidis, relates the A-polynomial and the colored Jones polynomial of a knot in the 3-sphere. It has been confirmed for all torus knots, some classes of two-bridge knots and pretzel knots, and most…
We describe a procedure that creates an explicit complex-valued polynomial function of three-dimensional space, whose nodal lines are the three-twist knot $5_2$. The construction generalizes a similar approach for lemniscate knots: a braid…
The Slope Conjecture relates a quantum knot invariant, (the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot) with a classical one (boundary slopes of incompressible surfaces in the knot complement). The degree of the colored Jones…
We show that the problem of constructing a real rational knot of a reasonably low degree can be reduced to an algebraic problem involving the pure braid group: expressing an associated element of the pure braid group in terms of the…
X.S. Lin's original definition of twisted Alexander knot polynomial is generalized for arbitrary finitely presented groups. J. Cha's fibering obstruction theorem is generalized. The group of a nontrivial virtual knot shown by L. Kauffman to…
Brunnian links have been known for a long time in knot theory, whereas the idea of n-triviality is a recent innovation. We illustrate the relationship between the two concepts with four short theorems.