Related papers: The skein polynomial of closed 3-braids
We show that 3-braid links with given (non-zero) Alexander or Jones polynomial are finitely many, and can be effectively determined. We classify among closed 3-braids strongly quasipositive and fibered ones, and show that 3-braid links have…
Knots and links which are closed 3-braids are a very special class. Like 2-bridge knots and links, they are simple enough to admit a complete classification. At the same time they are rich enough to serve as a source of examples on which,…
We construct ribbon surfaces of Euler characteristic one for several infinite families of alternating 3-braid closures. We also use a twisted Alexander polynomial obstruction to conclude the classification of smoothly slice knots which are…
Building further on work of Marin and Wagner, we give a cubic braid-type skein theory of the Links--Gould polynomial invariant of oriented links and prove that it can be used to evaluate any oriented link, adding this polynomial to the list…
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…
In this paper we present recent results on the computation of skein modules of 3-manifolds using braids and appropriate knot algebras. Skein modules generalize knot polynomials in $S^3$ to knot polynomials in arbitrary 3-manifolds and they…
We show that every trivial 3-strand braid diagram contains a disk, defined as a ribbon ending in opposed crossings. Under a convenient algebraic form, the result extends to every Artin--Tits group of dihedral type, but it fails to extend to…
In a recent paper, McMullen showed an inequality between the Thurston norm and the Alexander norm of a 3-manifold. This generalizes the well-known fact that twice the genus of a knot is bounded from below by the degree of the Alexander…
The notion of a braided chord diagram is introduced and studied. An equivalence relation is given which identifies all braidings of a fixed chord diagram. It is shown that finite-type invariants are stratified by braid index for knots which…
We give examples of knots with some unusual properties of the crossing number of positive diagrams or strand number of positive braid representations. In particular we show that positive braid knots may not have positive minimal (strand…
We use the skein theory of $\mathfrak{sl}_3$-webs to study the properties of the quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_3$-link polynomial of positive links. We give explicit formulae for the three leading terms of the polynomial on positive links in terms…
In this paper we introduce the tied links, i.e. ordinary links provided with some ties between strands. The motivation for introducing such objects originates from a diagrammatical interpretation of the defining generators of the so-called…
A special class of braids, called woven, is introduced and it is shown that every conjugation class of the braid group contains woven braids. In consequence, links can be presented as plats or closures of woven braids. Restricting on knots,…
We give characterizations of the skein polynomial for links (as well as Jones and Alexander-Conway polynomials derivable from it), avoiding the usual "smoothing of a crossing" move. As by-products we have characterizations of these…
In this paper, we use skein-theoretic techniques to classify all virtual knot polynomials and trivalent graph invariants with certain smallness conditions. The first half of the paper classifies all virtual knot polynomials giving…
We compute the arc index of an adequate link and establish bounds on the arc index of the closure of a positive 3-braid. We also conjecture an inequality between the crossing number, arc index, and Turaev genus of a link and show the…
Twisted links are obtained from a base link by starting with a $n$-braid representation, choosing several ($m$) adjacent strands, and applying one or more twists to the set. Various restrictions may be applied, e.g. the twists may be…
In this paper we define and present a simple combinatorial formula for a 3-variable Laurent polynomial invariant of conjugacy classes in Artin braid group $B_m$. We show that this Laurent polynomial satisfies the Conway skein relation and…
We study the distribution of arithmetic invariants associated to Alexander polynomials for certain infinite families of links. The families of links we consider arise from braids on a fixed number of strings. We explore analogies with…
We give an upper bound for the dealternating number of a closed 3-braid. As applications, we determine the dealternating numbers, the alternation numbers and the Turaev genera of some closed positive 3-braids. We also show that there exist…