Related papers: On Knot Polynomials of Annular Surfaces and their …

For each link type $K$ in the 3-sphere, we show that there is a polynomial $p_K$ such that any two diagrams of $K$ with $c_1$ and $c_2$ crossings differ by at most $p_K(c_1) + p_K(c_2)$ Reidemeister moves. As a consequence, the problem of…

The slope conjecture gives a precise relation between the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot and the boundary slopes of essential surfaces in the knot complement. In this note we propose a generalization of the slope…

We give an upper bound on the z-degree of the Kauffman polynomial of a link, using bridges of length greater than one which are separated in some tangle decomposition of a link diagram. We construct some examples by wiring together rational…

We give a geometric proof of the following result of Juhasz. \emph{Let $a_g$ be the leading coefficient of the Alexander polynomial of an alternating knot $K$. If $|a_g|<4$ then $K$ has a unique minimal genus Seifert surface.} In doing so,…

We continue the study of quantum A-polynomials -- equations for knot polynomials with respect to their coloring (representation-dependence) -- as the relations between different links, obtained by hanging additional ``simple'' components on…

The central question of knot theory is that of distinguishing links up to isotopy. The first polynomial invariant of links devised to help answer this question was the Alexander polynomial (1928). Almost a century after its introduction, it…

For $D$ a reduced alternating surface link diagram, we bound the twist number of $D$ in terms of the coefficients of a polynomial invariant. To this end, we introduce a generalization of the homological Kauffman bracket defined by Krushkal.…

Let $F$ be an incompressible, meridionally incompressible and not boundary-parallel surface with boundary in the complement of an algebraic tangle $(B,T)$. Then $F$ separates the strings of $T$ in $B$ and the boundary slope of $F$ is…

The maximum length of the shortest path from a leaf to the root of a skein tree for knots and links gives a measure of the complexity of computing link polynomials by the skein relation (the Jones polynomial, the Alexander-Conway…

We use the 2-loop term of the Kontsevich integral to show that there are (many) knots with trivial Alexander polynomial which don't have a Seifert surface whose genus equals the rank of the Seifert form. This is one of the first…

A polynomial invariant of virtual links, arising from an invariant of links in thickened surfaces introduced by Jaeger, Kauffman, and Saleur, is defined and its properties are investigated. Examples are given that the invariant can detect…

For any given integer $r \geq 1$ and a quasitoric braid $\beta_r=(\sigma_r^{-\epsilon} \sigma_{r-1}^{\epsilon}...$ $ \sigma_{1}^{(-1)^{r}\epsilon})^3$ with $\epsilon=\pm 1$, we prove that the maximum degree in $z$ of the HOMFLYPT polynomial…

We consider volumes of two families of links that have been the focus of recent results on geometry, namely weakly generalised alternating (WGA) links and fully augmented links (FAL). Both have known lower bounds on hyperbolic volume in…

Using the recently proposed differential hierarchy (Z-expansion) technique, we obtain a general expression for the HOMFLY polynomials in two arbitrary symmetric representations of link families, including Whitehead and Borromean links.…

Link equivalence up to isotopy in a 3-space is the problem that lies at the root of knot theory, and is important in 3-dimensional topology and geometry. We consider its restriction to alternating links, given by two alternating diagrams…

We study relationships between the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial of a knot. We establish for a large class of 2-bridge knots the AJ conjecture (of Garoufalidis) that relates the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial.…

We find a single two-parameter skein relation on trivalent graphs, the quantum exceptional relation, that specializes to a skein relation associated to each exceptional Lie algebra (in the adjoint representation). If a slight strengthening…

We use the famous knot-theoretic consequence of Freedman's disc theorem---knots with trivial Alexander polynomial bound a locally-flat disc in the 4-ball---to prove the following generalization. The degree of the Alexander polynomial of a…

In this paper, we propose and discuss implications of a general conjecture that there is a canonical action of a rank 1 double affine Hecke algebra on the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of a knot $K \subset S^3$. We prove…

We connect two important conjectures in the theory of knot polynomials. The first one is the property Al_R(q) = Al_{[1]}(q^{|R|}) for all single hook Young diagrams R, which is known to hold for all knots. The second conjecture claims that…