Related papers: Some non-trivial PL knots whose complements are ho…

The classical knot groups are the fundamental groups of the complements of smooth or piecewise-linear (PL) locally-flat knots. For PL knots that are not locally-flat, there is a pair of interesting groups to study: the fundamental group of…

Let $\mathcal {M}$ be the space of all, including singular, long knots in 3-space and for which a fixed projection into the plane is an immersion. Let $cl(\Sigma^{(1)}_{iness})$ be the closure of the union of all singular knots in $\mathcal…

We generalize the classical study of Alexander polynomials of smooth or PL locally-flat knots to PL knots that are not necessarily locally-flat. We introduce three families of generalized Alexander polynomials and study their properties.…

We construct a compact PL 5-manifold $M$ (with boundary) which is homotopy equivalent to the wedge of eleven 2-spheres, $\vee^{}_{1 1}S^2$, which is "spineless", meaning $M$ is not the regular neighborhood of any 2-complex PL embedded in…

We construct families of trivial $2$-knots $K_i$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ such that the maximal complexity of $2$-knots in any isotopy connecting $K_i$ with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the…

Links of singularity and generalized algebraic links are ways of constructing three-manifolds and smooth links inside them from potentially singular complex algebraic surfaces and complex curves inside them. We prove that knot lattice…

Suppose M is a noncompact connected PL 2-manifold and let H(M)_0 denote the identity component of the homeomorphism group of M with the compact-open topology. In this paper we classify the homotopy type of H(M)_0 by showing that {\cal…

We present new families of examples of non-simple prime Legendrian and transversal knots in tight Lens spaces, which demonstrate that the botany of Legendrians in Lens space is rich. In fact, there are more non-isotopic Legendrians that are…

Relative self-linking and linking "numbers" for pairs of knots in oriented 3-manifolds are defined in terms of intersection invariants of immersed surfaces in 4-manifolds. The resulting concordance invariants generalize the usual…

There exists a simplified Bar-Natan Khovanov complex for open 2-braids. The Khovanov cohomology of a knot diagram made by gluing tangles of this type is therefore often amenable to calculation. We lift this idea to the level of the…

We show that if a knot or link has n thin levels when put in thin position then its exterior contains a collection of n disjoint, non-parallel, planar, meridional, essential surfaces. A corollary is that there are at least n/3 tetrahedra in…

Although most knots are nonalternating, modern research in knot theory seems to focus on alternating knots. We consider here nonalternating knots and their properties. Specifically, we show certain classes of knots have nontrivial Jones…

We prove the existence of lattice isomorphic line arrangements having $\pi_1$-equivalent or homotopy-equivalent complements and non homeomorphic embeddings in the complex projective plane. We also provide two explicit examples, one is…

We consider irreducible 3-manifolds M that arise as knot complements in closed 3-manifolds and that contain at most two connected strict essential surfaces. The results in the paper relate the boundary slopes of the two surfaces to their…

We define homotopy-theoretic invariants of knots in prime 3-manifolds. Fix a knot J in a prime 3-manifold M. Call a knot K in M concordant to J if it cobounds a properly embedded annulus with J in MxI, and call K J-characteristic if there…

Hempel has shown that the fundamental groups of knot complements are residually finite. This implies that every nontrivial knot must have a finite-sheeted, noncyclic cover. We give an explicit bound, $\Phi (c)$, such that if $K$ is a…

Let K be a nontrivial knot in the 3-sphere with the exterior E(K), and u in G(K), the fundamental group of E(K), a slope element represented by an essential simple closed curve on the boundary of E(K). Since the normal closure of u in G(K)…

By a recent result of Livingston, it is known that if a knot has a prime power branched cyclic cover that is not a homology sphere, then there is an infinite family of non-concordant knots having the same Seifert form as the knot. In this…

We study the homotopy types of complements of arrangements of n transverse planes in R^4, obtaining a complete classification for n <= 6, and lower bounds for the number of homotopy types in general. Furthermore, we show that the homotopy…

We prove that knot Floer homology of a certain class of knots is non-trivial in next-to-top Alexander grading. This gives a partial affirmative answer to a question posed by Baldwin and Vela-Vick which asks if the same is true for all…