Related papers: On the bridge number of knot diagrams with minimal…
It is well known that the braid index of a link equals the minimum number of Seifert circles among all link diagrams representing it. For a link with a reduced alternating diagram $D$, $s(D)$, the number of Seifert circles in $D$, equals…
For every odd integer $N$ we give an explicit construction of a polynomial curve $\cC(t) = (x(t), y (t))$, where $\deg x = 3$, $\deg y = N + 1 + 2\pent N4$ that has exactly $N$ crossing points $\cC(t_i)= \cC(s_i)$ whose parameters satisfy…
We present a practical algorithm to determine the minimal genus of non-orientable spanning surfaces for 2-bridge knots, called the crosscap numbers. We will exhibit a table of crosscap numbers of 2-bridge knots up to 12crossings (all 362 of…
We study the \emph{geometric $k$-colored crossing number} of complete graphs $\overline{\overline{\text{cr}}}_k(K_n)$, which is the smallest number of monochromatic crossings in any $k$-edge colored straight-line drawing of $K_n$. We…
We show that the bridge number of a $t$ bridge knot in $S^3$ with respect to an unknotted genus $t$ surface is bounded below by a function of the distance of the Heegaard splitting induced by the $t$ bridges. It follows that for any natural…
A knot K is called n-adjacent to the unknot, if K admits a projection containing n generalized crossings such that changing any m (no larger than n) of them yields a projection of the unknot. We show that a non-trivial satellite knot K is…
We study the algorithmic aspect of edge bundling. A bundled crossing in a drawing of a graph is a group of crossings between two sets of parallel edges. The bundled crossing number is the minimum number of bundled crossings that group all…
In this paper I give estimates for the minimal crossing number, leading to a short proof that the crossing number is additive for torus links. These estimates are applied to several classes of links. Finally, I prove a part of a conjecture…
We use Heegaard Floer homology to give obstructions to unknotting a knot with a single crossing change. These restrictions are particularly useful in the case where the knot in question is alternating. As an example, we use them to classify…
We show that except for $n = 2$ if a bridge surface for a knot is an index $n$ topologically minimal surface, then after a perturbation it is still topologically minimal with index at most $n+1$.
Every knot has a plat projection, obtained by closing up a braid with bridges. The plat projection is determined by the number of strands and the number of rows of twist regions in the braid, and an integer number of crossings in each twist…
The list of knots with up to 10 crossings is commonly referred to as the Rolfsen Table. This paper presents a way to generate the Rolfsen table in a simple, clear, and reproducible manner. The methods we use are similar to those used by J.…
Take a thin, rectangular strip of paper, add in an odd number of half-twists, then join the ends together. This gives a multi-twist paper M\"obius band. We prove that any multi-twist paper M\"obius band can be constructed so the aspect…
For a knot K, let b_n(K) be the minimum length of an n-stranded braid representative of K. Examples of knots exist for which b_n(K) is a non-increasing function. We investigate the behavior of b_n(K). We develop bounds on the function in…
It has long been known that the quadratic term in the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot is bounded above in terms of the crossing number of the knot. We show that this bound is sharp if and only if the knot is adequate. As an…
The concordance genus of a knot is the least genus of any knot in its concordance class. It is bounded above by the genus of the knot, and bounded below by the slice genus, two well-studied invariants. In this paper we consider the…
In this paper, we work to construct mosaic representations of knots on the torus, rather than in the plane. This consists of a particular choice of the ambient group, as well as different definitions of contiguous and suitably connected. We…
We improve the upper bound on the superbridge index $sb[K]$ of a knot type $[K]$ in terms of the bridge index $b[K]$ from $sb[K] \leq 5b -3$ to $sb[K]\leq 3b[k] - 1$.
Cohen, Lowrance, Madras, and Raanes computed the average (absolute value of) signature over all 2-bridge knots with crossing number $c$ by introducing the number $s(c,\sigma)$ of 2-bridge knots of crossing number $c$ and signature $\sigma$.…
Every knot can be embedded in the union of finitely many half planes with a common boundary line in such a way that the portion of the knot in each half plane is a properly embedded arc. The minimal number of such half planes is called the…