Related papers: Knot theory in handlebodies
We develop an approach to Khovanov homology of knots via gauge theory (previous physics-based approches involved other descriptions of the relevant spaces of BPS states). The starting point is a system of D3-branes ending on an NS5-brane…
Musical gestures connect the symbolic layer of the score to the physical layer of sound. I focus here on the mathematical theory of musical gestures, and I propose its generalization to include braids and knots. In this way, it is possible…
In order to obtain a Markov theorem without stabilization, Birman and Menasco introduced the notion of exchange related braids. In this paper I study the way the Fiedler polynomial distinguishes conjugacy classes of some particular braided…
Every nontrivial action of the braid group $B_n$ on $\mathbb{R}$ by orientation-preserving homeomorphisms yields, up to conjugation by a homeomorphism of $\mathbb{R}$, a representation $\rho : B_n \rightarrow…
In a recent paper by L. A. Bokut, V. V. Chaynikov and K. P. Shum in 2007, Braid group $B_n$ is represented by Artin-Burau's relations. For such a representation, it is told that all other compositions can be checked in the same way. In this…
We define a broad class of graphs that generalize the Gordian graph of knots. These knot graphs take into account unknotting operations, the concordance relation, and equivalence relations generated by knot invariants. We prove that…
Let F a closed connected orientable surface bounding a genus g handlebody H. In this paper we find a finite set of generators for the subgroup E(2,g) of the pure mapping class group of the twice punctured torus PMCG(2,g), consisting of the…
The paper concerns two classical problems in knot theory pertaining to knot symmetry and knot exteriors. In the context of a knotted handlebody $V$ in a $3$-sphere $S^3$, the symmetry problem seeks to classify the mapping class group of the…
We develop a calculus of surgery data, called bridged links, which involves besides links also pairs of balls that describe one-handle attachements. As opposed to the usual link calculi of Kirby and others this description uses only…
We describe an alternative way of computing Alexander polynomials of knots/links, based on the Artin representation of the corresponding braids by automorphisms of a free group. Then we apply the same method to other representations of…
We work on the notions of rail arcs and rail isotopy in $\mathbb{R}^3$, and we introduce the notions of rail knotoid diagrams and their equivalence. Our main result is that two rail arcs in $\mathbb{R}^3$ are rail isotopic if and only if…
In this paper we present a detailed study of \emph{bonded knots} and their related structures, integrating recent developments into a single framework. Bonded knots are classical knots endowed with embedded bonding arcs modeling physical or…
In the present paper, we introduce $\mathbb{Z}_2$-braids and, more generally, $G$-braids for an arbitrary group $G$. They form a natural group-theoretic counterpart of $G$-knots, see \cite{reidmoves}. The underlying idea, used in the…
We discuss how to apply work of L. Rudolph to braid conjugacy class invariants to obtain potentially effective obstructions to a slice knot being ribbon. We then apply these ideas to a family of braid conjugacy class invariants coming from…
Classical knot theory deals with {\em diagrams} and {\em invariants}. By means of horizontal {\em trisecants}, we construct a new theory of classical braids with invariants valued in {\em pictures}. These pictures are closely related to…
We introduce and explore the relation between knot invariants and quiver representation theory, which follows from the identification of quiver quantum mechanics in D-brane systems representing knots. We identify various structural…
We study petal diagrams of knots, which provide a method of describing knots in terms of permutations in a symmetric group $S_{2n+1}$. We define two classes of moves on such permutations, called trivial petal additions and crossing…
Topological gauge theories in four dimensions which admit surface operators provide a natural framework for realizing homological knot invariants. Every such theory leads to an action of the braid group on branes on the corresponding moduli…
It has been conjectured that the algebraic crossing number of a link is uniquely determined in minimal braid representation. This conjecture is true for many classes of knots and links. The Morton-Franks-Williams inequality gives a lower…
We consider knots and links in handlebodies that have hyperbolic complements and operations akin to composition. Cutting the complements of two such open along separating twice-punctured disks such that each of the four resulting…