Related papers: Knots with unknotting number 1 and essential Conwa…

Let $D$ be a diagram of an alternating knot with unknotting number one. The branched double cover of $S^3$ branched over $D$ is an L-space obtained by half integral surgery on a knot $K_D$. We denote the set of all such knots $K_D$ by…

We discuss an "extrinsic" property of knots in a 3-subspace of the 3-sphere $S^3$ to characterize how the subspace is embedded in $S^3$. Specifically, we show that every knot in a subspace of the 3-sphere is transient if and only if the…

The A-polynomial of a knot is defined in terms of SL(2,C) representations of the knot group, and encodes information about essential surfaces in the knot complement. In 2005, Dunfield-Garoufalidis and Boyer-Zhang proved that it detects the…

Let $K\subset S^3$ be a knot, $X:= S^3\setminus K$ its complement, and $\mathbb{T}$ the circle group identified with $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$. To any oriented long knot diagram of $K$, we associate a quadratic polynomial in variables…

In view of the self-linking invariant, the number $|K|$ of framed knots in $S^3$ with given underlying knot $K$ is infinite. In fact, the second author previously defined affine self-linking invariants and used them to show that $|K|$ is…

For any knot with genus one and unknotting number one, other than the figure-eight knot, we prove that there is exactly one way to unknot it by means of a crossing change. In the case of the figure-eight knot, we prove that there are…

Determining unknotting numbers is a large and widely studied problem. We consider the more general question of the unknotting number of a spatial graph. We show the unknotting number of spatial graphs is subadditive. Let $g$ be an embedding…

The alternating knots, links and twists projected on the $S_2$ sphere were identified with the phase space of a Hamiltonian dynamic system of one degree of freedom. The saddles of the system correspond to the crossings, the edges correspond…

We prove that if an alternating 3-braid knot has unknotting number one, then there must exist an unknotting crossing in any alternating diagram of it, and we enumerate such knots. The argument combines the obstruction to unknotting number…

We prove that if an alternating knot has unknotting number one, then there exists an unknotting crossing in any alternating diagram. This is done by showing that the obstruction to unknotting number one developed by Greene in his work on…

The untwisting number of a knot K is the minimum number of null-homologous twists required to convert K to the unknot. Such a twist can be viewed as a generalization of a crossing change, since a classical crossing change can be effected by…

The group of any nontrivial torus knot, hyperbolic 2-bridge knot, or hyperbolic knot with unknotting number one contains infinitely many elements, none the automorphic image of another, such that each normally generates the group.

The slicing number of a knot, $u_s(K)$, is the minimum number of crossing changes required to convert $K$ to a slice knot. This invariant is bounded above by the unknotting number and below by the slice genus $g_s(K)$. We show that for many…

We answer a question posed by Fielder in [1] concerning two notions of crossing number for algebraic knots $K$ under Hopf fibration, one topological, denoted $h(K)$, the other coming from the realization of such knots around complex…

Symmetry of geometrical figures is reflected in regularities of their algebraic invariants. Algebraic regularities are often preserved when the geometrical figure is topologically deformed. The most natural, intuitively simple but…

Let $M_n$ be the topological moduli space of all parallel n-cables of long framed oriented knots in 3-space. We construct in a combinatorial way for each natural number $n>1$ a 1-cocycle $R_n$ which represents a non trivial class in…

We use the knot filtration on the Heegaard Floer complex to define an integer invariant tau(K) for knots. Like the classical signature, this invariant gives a homomorphism from the knot concordance group to Z. As such, it gives lower bounds…

Let K be a knot in S^3, and M and M' be distinct Dehn surgeries along K. We investigate when M covers M'. When K is a torus knot, we provide a complete classification of such covers. When K is a hyperbolic knot, we provide partial results…

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…

Given a knot K in the 3-sphere, consider a singular disk bounded by K and the intersections of K with the interior of the disk. The absolute number of intersections, minimised over all choices of singular disk with a given algebraic number…