Related papers: Rational moves and tangle embeddings: (2,2)-moves …

This paper is motivated by a general question: for which values of k and n is the universal Burnside kei of k generators and Kei "exponent" n, $\bar Q(k,n)$, finite? It is known (starting from the work of M. Takasaki (1942)) that $\bar…

We start a systematic analysis of links up to 5-move equivalence. Our motivation is to develop tools which later can be used to study skein modules based on the skein relation being deformation of a 5-move (in an analogous way as the…

In this paper we give a simple proof of the equivalence between the rational link associated to the continued fraction $\left[ a_{1},a_{2},\cdots a_{m}\right],$ $a_{i}\in\mathbb{N}$, and the two bridge link of type $p/q,$ where $p/q$ is the…

Yasutaka Nakanishi asked in 1981 whether a 3-move is an unknotting operation. In Kirby's problem list, this question is called `The Montesinos-Nakanishi 3-move conjecture'. We define the n-th Burnside group of a link and use the 3rd…

Covering moves relate colored link diagrams appearing as the branch sets of simple branched coverings of $S^3$ by the same 3-manifold. We provide a complete set of covering moves on plat closures of braids in each fixed degree $d \geq 4$,…

Let $B_n$ denote the classical braid group on $n$ strands and let the {\em mixed braid group} $B_{m,n}$ be the subgroup of $B_{m+n}$ comprising braids for which the first $m$ strands form the identity braid. Let…

Knots and links which are closed 3-braids are a very special class. Like 2-bridge knots and links, they are simple enough to admit a complete classification. At the same time they are rich enough to serve as a source of examples on which,…

Braiding operators corresponding to the third Reidemeister move in the theory of knots and links are realized in terms of parametrized unitary matrices for all dimensions. Two distinct classes are considered. Their (non-local) unitary…

Yasutaka Nakanishi formulated the following conjecture in 1981: every link is 3-move equivalent to a trivial link. While the conjecture was proved for several specific cases, it remained an open question for over twenty years. In 2002,…

We introduce a notion of "quasi-right-veering" for closed braids, which plays an analogous role to "right-veering" for open books. We show that a transverse link $K$ in a contact 3-manifold $(M,\xi)$ is non-loose if and only if every braid…

This paper is based on my talks (`Skein modules with a cubic skein relation: properties and speculations' and `Symplectic structure on colorings, Lagrangian tangles and its applications') given in Kyoto (RIMS), September 11 and September 18…

We recall an extension of Kirby's Calculus on non-simply connected 3-manifolds given in [FR], and the surgery calculus of bridged links from [Ke], which involves only local moves. We give a short combinatorial proof that the two calculi are…

We categorify the notion of an infinitesimal braiding in a linear strict symmetric monoidal category, leading to the notion of a (strict) infinitesimal 2-braiding in a linear symmetric strict monoidal 2-category. We describe the associated…

We determine which integral surgeries on a large class of circular chain links bound rational homology balls. Our key tool is the lattice-theoretic cubiquity obstruction recently developed by Greene and Owens. We discuss a practical method…

Define the complete n-complex on N vertices to be the n-skeleton of an (N-1)-simplex. We show that embeddings of sufficiently large complete n-complexes in R^{2n+1} necessarily exhibit complicated linking behaviour, thereby extending known…

A kei, or 2-quandle, is an algebraic structure one can use to produce a numerical invariant of links, known as coloring invariants. Motivated by Mazur's analogy between prime numbers and knots, we define for every finite kei $\mathcal{K}$…

Given a generic rational curve $C$ in the group of Euclidean displacements we construct a linkage such that the constrained motion of one of the links is exactly $C$. Our construction is based on the factorization of polynomials over dual…

In this paper we describe braid equivalence for knots and links in a 3-manifold $M$ obtained by rational surgery along a framed link in $S^3$. We first prove a sharpened version of the Reidemeister theorem for links in $M$. We then give…

We prove that under fairly general conditions an iterated exchange move gives infinitely many non-conjugate braids. As a consequence, every knot has infinitely many conjugacy classes of n-braid representations if and only if it has one…

This article deals with equivalence of links in 3-manifolds of Heegaard genus 2. Starting from a description of such a manifold introduced by Casali et al., that uses 6-tuples of integers and determines a Heegaard decomposition of the…