Related papers: The slicing number of a knot
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 trace of $n$-framed surgery on a knot in $S^3$ is a 4-manifold homotopy equivalent to the 2-sphere. We characterise when a generator of the second homotopy group of such a manifold can be realised by a locally flat embedded 2-sphere…
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 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…
This thesis develops some general calculational techniques for finding the orders of knots in the topological concordance group C. The techniques currently available in the literature are either too theoretical, applying to only a small…
Every classical or virtual knot is equivalent to the unknot via a sequence of extended Reidemeister moves and the so-called forbidden moves. The minimum number of forbidden moves necessary to unknot a given knot is an invariant we call the…
We show that for every conjugacy class O in a connected semisimple algebraic group G over a field of characteristic good for G one can find a special transversal slice S to the set of conjugacy classes in G such that O intersects S and dim…
A well-known algorithm for unknotting knots involves traversing a knot diagram and changing each crossing that is first encountered from below. The minimal number of crossings changed in this way across all diagrams for a knot is called the…
If there are any 2-component counterexamples to the Generalized Property R Conjecture, a least genus component of all such counterexamples cannot be a fibered knot. Furthermore, the monodromy of a fibered component of any such…
We investigate the bi-orderability of two-bridge knot groups and the groups of knots with 12 or fewer crossings by applying recent theorems of Chiswell, Glass and Wilson. Amongst all knots with 12 or fewer crossings (of which there are…
We analyze all monodromies of genus one fibered knots that possess clean or once-unclean arcs, and use this to determine all manifolds containing genus one fibered knots with generalized crossing changes resulting in another genus one…
The stable 4-genus of a knot K in 3-space is the limiting value of g_4(nK)/n, where g_4 denotes the 4-genus and n goes to infinity. This induces a seminorm on CQ, the concordance group tensored with the rational numbers. Basic properties of…
The cosmetic crossing conjecture posits that switching a non-trivial crossing in a knot diagram always changes the knot type. Generalizing work of Balm, Friedl, Kalfagianni and Powell, and of Lidman and Moore, we give an Alexander…
We classify all knot diagrams of genus two and three, and give applications to positive, alternating and homogeneous knots, including a classification of achiral genus 2 alternating knots, slice or achiral 2-almost positive knots, a proof…
This paper is about the clock number of a knot. First we define the clock number by using states of a knot defined by Kauffman. Next we show that if K is a prime knot, its clock number is greater than or equal to its crossing number.…
A polynomial knot is a smooth embedding $\kappa: \real \to \real^n$ whose components are polynomials. The case $n = 3$ is of particular interest. It is both an object of real algebraic geometry as well as being an open ended topological…
This paper presents evidence supporting the surprising conjecture that in the topological category the slice genus of a satellite knot $P(K)$ is bounded above by the sum of the slice genera of $K$ and $P(U)$. Our main result establishes…
We define an obstruction for a knot to be Z[Z]-homology ribbon, and use this to provide restrictions on the integers that can occur as the triple linking numbers of derivative links of knots that are either homotopy ribbon or doubly slice.…
Given a closed four-manifold $X$ with an indefinite intersection form, we consider smoothly embedded surfaces in $X \setminus $int$(B^4)$, with boundary a knot $K \subset S^3$. We give several methods to bound the genus of such surfaces in…
We use technology from sutured manifold theory and the theory of Heegaard splittings to relate genus reducing crossing changes on knots in S^3 to twists on surfaces arising in circular Heegaard splittings for knot complements. In a separate…