Related papers: Stabilization in the Braid Groups (with applicatio…
The main result of this paper is a negative answer to the question: are all transversal knot types transversally simple? An explicit infinite family of examples is given of closed 3-braids that define transversal knot types that are not…
Choose any oriented link type X and closed braid representatives X[+], X[-] of X, where X[-] has minimal braid index among all closed braid representatives of X. The main result of this paper is a `Markov theorem without stabilization'. It…
We give a new proof of Markov's classical theorem relating any two closed braid representations of the same knot or link. The proof is based upon ideas in a forthcoming paper by the authors, "Stabilization in the braid groups". The new…
This text consists of the introduction, table of contents, and bibliography of a long manuscript (703 pages) that is currently submitted for publication. This manuscript develops an extension of Garside's approach to braid groups and…
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 the paper we give a survey on braid groups and subjects connected with them. We start with the initial definition, then we give several interpretations as well as several presentations of these groups. Burau presentation for the pure…
This article is about Artin's braid group and its role in knot theory. We set ourselves two goals: (i) to provide enough of the essential background so that our review would be accessible to graduate students, and (ii) to focus on those…
We construct two distinct yet related M-theory models that provide suitable frameworks for the study of knot invariants. We then focus on the four-dimensional gauge theory that follows from appropriately compactifying one of these M-theory…
A knot in the 3-sphere in genus-1 1-bridge position (called a (1,1)-position) can be described by an element of the braid group of two points in the torus. Our main results tell how to translate between a braid group element and the…
The aim of this paper is to realise the techniques of picture-valued invariants and invariants valued in free groups for long knots in the full torus. Such knots and links are of a particular interest because of their relation to Legendrian…
We consider braids on $m+n$ strands, such that the first $m$ strands are trivially fixed. We denote the set of all such braids by $B_{m,n}$. Via concatenation $B_{m,n}$ acquires a group structure. The objective of this paper is to find a…
This paper explores the problem of unknotting closed braids and classical knots in mathematical knot theory. We apply evolutionary computation methods to learn sequences of moves that simplify knot diagrams, and show that this can be…
A stabilization operation is defined for codimension $2$ contact submanifolds in $\dim \geq 5$ contact manifolds $(M, \xi)$. The definition is such that (1) a given $(M, \xi)$ is overtwisted iff its standard transverse unknot is stabilized…
We establish a strong, geometric lower bound on the (sequential) topological complexity of the unordered configuration spaces of a general graph. As an application, we show that, for most graphs, the topological complexity eventually…
The paper deals with topologically trivial Legendrian knots in tight and overtwisted contact 3-manifolds. The first part contains a thorough exposition of the proof of the classification of topologically trivial Legendrian knots (i.e.…
We report on the geometry and mechanics of knotted stiff strings. We discuss both closed and open knots. Our two main results are: (i) Their equilibrium energy as well as the equilibrium tension for open knots depend on the type of knot as…
This paper is a short introduction to and statement of the main theorems of our paper "Virtual Braids and the L-Move", JKTR, Vol. 15, No. 6 (2006), pp. 773-811. See also arxiv:Math.GT/0507035.
This is an expository article on diagrammatic representations of knots and links in various settings via braids.
The present paper is an addendum to "Spherical structures on torus knots and links", arXiv:1008.0312, and concerns more general case of torus knot and link cone-manifolds.
A transverse knot is a knot that is transverse to the planes of the standard contact structure on real 3-space. In this paper we prove the Markov Theorem for transverse braids, which states that two transverse closed braids that are…