Related papers: Obstructions to trivializing a knot

We introduce a new combinatorial method to encode knots and links with applications to knot invariants. Clasp diagrams defined in this paper are combinatorial blueprints for building knot diagrams out of full twists on two strings rather…

Introducing a way to modify knots using $n$-trivial rational tangles, we show that knots with given values of Vassiliev invariants of bounded degree can have arbitrary unknotting number (extending a recent result of Ohyama, Taniyama and…

We describe a series of complexes that relate to the braid groups as the matching complexes relate to the symmetric groups. A modified construction applies as well to other complexes based on edge sets in graphs. We show that our…

In [Jo14] and [Jo18] Vaughan Jones introduced a construction which yields oriented knots and links from elements of the oriented Thompson group $\vec{F}$. In this paper we prove, by analogy with Alexander's classical theorem establishing…

We propose a new non-commutative generalization of the representation variety and the character variety of a knot group. Our strategy is to reformulate the construction of the algebra of functions on the space of representations in terms of…

This paper represents a first attempt at unifying two promising models that attempt to explain the origin of the internal symmetries of leptons and quarks. It is shown that each of the four normed division algebras over the reals admits a…

We prove that the expected number of braid moves in the commutation class of the reduced word $(s_1 s_2 \cdots s_{n-1})(s_1 s_2 \cdots s_{n-2}) \cdots (s_1 s_2)(s_1)$ for the long element in the symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_n$ is one. This…

This paper gives new and elementary combinatorial topological proofs of the classification of unoriented and oriented rational knots and links. These proofs are based on the known classification of alternating knots through flyping, and the…

In this expositional essay, we introduce some elements of the study of groups by analysing the braid pattern on a knitted blanket. We determine that the blanket features pure braids with a minimal number of crossings. Moreover, we determine…

Closed 3-string braids admit many bandings to two-bridge links. By way of the Montesinos Trick, this allows us to construct infinite families of knots in the connected sum of lens spaces L(r,1) # L(s,1) that admit a surgery to a lens space…

The necklace braid group $\mathcal{NB}_n$ is the motion group of the $n+1$ component necklace link $\mathcal{L}_n$ in Euclidean $\mathbb{R}^3$. Here $\mathcal{L}_n$ consists of $n$ pairwise unlinked Euclidean circles each linked to an…

In previous papers, the author realized the following principle for many knot theories: if a knot diagram is complicated enough then it reproduces itself, i.e., is a subdiagram of any other diagram equivalent to it. This principle is…

We consider knots equipped with a representation of their knot groups onto a dihedral group D_{2n} (where n is odd). To each such knot there corresponds a closed 3-manifold, the (irregular) dihedral branched covering space, with the…

We study decomposition into simple arcs (i. e., arcs without self-intersections) for diagrams of knots and spatial graphs. In this paper, it is proved in particular that if no edge of a finite spatial graph $G$ is a knotted loop, then there…

We show that a non-trivial, non-central normal subgroup of the braid groups contains a braid whose closure is a hyperbolic knot with arbitrary large genus. This shows that non-faithfulness of a quantum representation implies that the…

Recently, the author discovered an interesting class of knot-like objects called free knots. These purely combinatorial objects are equivalence classes of Gauss diagrams modulo Reidemeister moves (the same notion in the language of words…

In this paper, we prove than given two cubic knots $K_1$, $K_2$ in $\mathbb{R}^3$, they are isotopic if and only if one can pass from one to the other by a finite sequence of cubulated moves. These moves are analogous to the Reidemeister…

Loop braid groups characterize the exchange of extended objects, namely loops, in three dimensional space generalizing the notion of braid groups that describe the exchange of point particles in two dimensional space. Their interest in…

The loop braid group is the motion group of unknotted oriented circles in $\mathbb{R}^3$. In this paper, we study their representations through the approach inspired by two dimensional topological phases of matter. In principle, the motion…

We study knots in $\mathbb{S}^3$ obtained by the intersection of a minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with a small 3-sphere centered at a branch point. We construct examples of new minimal knots. In particular we show the existence of…