Linking number and folded ribbon unknots
Abstract
We study Kauffman's model of folded ribbon knots: knots made of a thin strip of paper folded flat in the plane. The folded ribbonlength is the length to width ratio of such a folded ribbon knot. The folded ribbon knot is also a framed knot, and the ribbon linking number is the linking number of the knot and one boundary component of the ribbon. We find the minimum folded ribbonlength for -stick unknots with ribbon linking numbers and , and we prove that the minimum folded ribbonlength for -gons with obtuse interior angles is achieved when the -gon is regular. Among other results, we prove that the minimum folded ribbonlength of any folded ribbon unknot which is a topological annulus with ribbon linking number is bounded from above by .
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2208.03239,
title = {Linking number and folded ribbon unknots},
author = {Elizabeth Denne and Troy Larsen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.03239},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
36 pages, 21 figures