Related papers: Knot adjacency and satellites

We prove a simple necessary and sufficient condition for a two-bridge knot K(p,q) to be quasipositive, based on the continued fraction expansion of p/q. As an application, coupled with some classification results in contact and symplectic…

The untwisting number of a knot K is the minimum number of null-homologous twists required to convert K to the unknot. Such a twist can be viewed as a generalization of a crossing change, since a classical crossing change can be effected by…

We construct infinitely many families of Lorenz knots that are satellites but not cables, giving counterexamples to a conjecture attributed to Morton. We amend the conjecture to state that Lorenz knots that are satellite have companion a…

It has been conjectured that for knots $K$ and $K'$ in $S^3$, $w(K#K')= w(K)+w(K')-2$. Scharlemann and Thompson have proposed potential counterexamples to this conjecture. For every $n$, they proposed a family of knots ${K^n_i}$ for which…

A gordian unlink is a finite number of unknots that are not topologically linked, each with prescribed length and thickness, and that cannot be disentangled into the trivial link by an isotopy preserving length and thickness throughout. In…

Let K' be a knot that admits no cosmetic crossing changes and let C be a non-trivial, prime, non-cable knot. Then any knot that is a satellite of C with winding number zero and pattern K' admits no cosmetic crossing changes. As a…

For a polygonal knot K, it is shown that a tube of radius R(K), the polygonal thickness radius, is an embedded torus. Given a thick configuration K, perturbations of size r<R(K) define satellite structures, or local knotting. We explore…

A quadrisecant of a knot is a straight line intersecting the knot at four points. If a knot has finitely many quadrisecants, one can replace each subarc between two adjacent secant points by the line segment between them to get the…

Call a smooth knot (or smooth link) in the unit sphere in $\mathbb{C}^2$ analytic (respectively, smoothly analytic) if it bounds a complex curve (respectively, a smooth complex curve) in the complex ball. Let $K$ be a smoothly analytic…

In the classical knot theory there is a well-known notion of descending diagram. From an arbitrary diagram one can easily obtain, by some crossing changes, a descending diagram which is a diagram of the unknot or unlink. In this paper the…

Twisting a knot $K$ in $S^3$ along a disjoint unknot $c$ produces a twist family of knots $\{K_n\}$ indexed by the integers. Comparing the behaviors of the Seifert genus $g(K_n)$ and the slice genus $g_4(K_n)$ under twistings, we prove that…

This paper concerns the H(2)-unknotting numbers of links related to 2-bridge links. It consists of three parts. In the first part, we consider a necessary and sufficient condition for a 2-bridge link to have H(2)-unknotting number one. The…

The transient number of a knot K, denoted tr(K), is the minimal number of simple arcs that have to be attached to K, in order that K can be homotoped to a trivial knot in a regular neighborhood of the union of K and the arcs. We give a…

Mutant knots, in the sense of Conway, are known to share the same Homfly polynomial. Their 2-string satellites also share the same Homfly polynomial, but in general their m-string satellites can have different Homfly polynomials for m>2. We…

Let K be a knot in the 3-sphere with 2-fold branched covering space M. If for some prime p congruent to 3 mod 4 the p-torsion in the first homology of M is cyclic with odd exponent, then K is of infinite order in the knot concordance group.…

We begin the systematic study of knot polynomials for the twist satellites of a knot, when its strand is substituted by a 2-strand twist knot. This is a generalization of cabling (torus satellites), when the substitute of the strand was a…

We consider the relationship between the crosscap number $\gamma$ of knots and a partial order on the set of all prime knots, which is defined as follows. For two knots $K$ and $J$, we say $K \geq J$ if there exists an epimorphism…

An $n$-crossing is a point in the projection of a knot where $n$ strands cross so that each strand bisects the crossing. An \"ubercrossing projection has a single $n$-crossing and a petal projection has a single $n$-crossing such that there…

We prove the nugatory crossing conjecture for fibered knots. We also show that if a knot $K$ is $n$-adjacent to a fibered knot $K'$, for some $n>1$, then either the genus of $K$ is larger than that of $K'$ or $K$ is isotopic to $K'$.

Neuwirth asked if any non-trivial knot in the 3-sphere can be embedded in a closed surface so that the complement of the surface is a connected essential surface for the knot complement. In this paper, we examine some variations on this…