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An inscribed knot is formed by polygonally connecting points lying on a knot $\gamma$ in parametric order, then closing the path by connecting the first and final points. The stick-knot number of a knot type K is the minimum number of line…
Experimental data from Dunfield et al using random grid diagrams suggests that the genus of a knot grows linearly with respect to the crossing number. Using billiard table diagrams of Chebyshev knots developed by Koseleff and Pecker and a…
A closed geodesic on the modular surface gives rise to a knot on the 3-sphere with a trefoil knot removed, and one can compute the linking number of such a knot with the trefoil knot. We show that, when ordered by their length, the set of…
We give a new upper bound on the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive link. In particular, we prove that the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive knot is at most four times the minimum degree.…
In this note, we prove a lower bound for the positive kinkiness of a closed braid which we then use to derive an estimate for the positive kinkiness of a link in terms of its Seifert system. As an application, we show that certain pretzel…
The most tight conformation of the trefoil knot found by the SONO algorithm is presented. Structure of the set of its self-contact points is analyzed.
In this paper we use continued fractions to study a partial order on the set of 2-bridge knots derived from the work of Ohtsuki, Riley, and Sakuma. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for any set of 2-bridge knots to have an…
It is nontrivial whether the average size of a ring polymer should become smaller or larger under a topological constraint. Making use of some knot invariants, we evaluate numerically the mean square radius of gyration for ring polymers…
We show that for any nontrivial knot $K$ and any natural number $n$ there is a diagram $D$ of $K$ such that the unknotting number of $D$ is greater than or equal to $n$. It is well known that twice the unknotting number of $K$ is less than…
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…
For an un-oriented link $\mathcal{K}$, let $L(\mathcal{K})$ be the ropelength of $\mathcal{K}$. It is known that when $\mathcal{K}$ has more than one component, different orientations of the components of $\mathcal{K}$ may result in…
There are 352.2 million prime knots in the 3-sphere with at most 19 crossings. We study which of these knots are slice, in both the smooth and topological categories. While no algorithm is known for deciding whether a given knot is slice in…
We introduce a new numerical knot invariant, termed the \textit{segment number}, which is derived from partitioned knot diagrams subject to specific over/under-crossing constraints. We prove that a knot is non-trivial if and only if its…
This paper is devoted to the study of lower and upper bounds for the number of vertices of the polytope of $n\times n\times n$ stochastic tensors (i.e., triply stochastic arrays of dimension $n$). By using known results on polytopes (i.e.,…
Twisted torus knots and links are given by twisting adjacent strands of a torus link. They are geometrically simple and contain many examples of the smallest volume hyperbolic knots. Many are also Lorenz links. We study the geometry of…
Relatively extremal knots are the relative minima of the ropelength functional in C^1 topology. On the set curves of fixed length, they are the relative maxima of thickness (normal injectivity radius) functional, including the ideal knots.…
In 1991, Negami found an upper bound on the stick number $s(K)$ of a nontrivial knot $K$ in terms of the minimal crossing number $c(K)$ of the knot which is $s(K) \leq 2 c(K)$. In this paper we improve this upper bound to $s(K) \leq…
We calculate the alternating number of torus knots with braid index 4 and less. For the lower bound, we use the upsilon-invariant recently introduced by Ozsv\'ath, Stipsicz, and Szab\'o. For the upper bound, we use a known bound for braid…
Numerical simulations indicate that there exist conformations of the unknot, tied on a finite piece of rope, entangled in such a manner, that they cannot be disentangled to the torus conformation without cutting the rope. The simplest…
In the previous paper by Pereira and the author, it was proved that any pencil of plane curves of degree greater than one with irreducible generic fiber can have at most five completely reducible fibers although no examples with five such…