相关论文: The Plain Sphere Number of a Link
We define the {\it Wirtinger number} of a link, an invariant closely related to the meridional rank. The Wirtinger number is the minimum number of generators of the fundamental group of the link complement over all meridional presentations…
The Wirtinger number of a virtual link is the minimum number of generators of the link group over all meridional presentations in which every relation is an iterated Wirtinger relation arising in a diagram. We prove that the Wirtinger…
Let T be a triangulation of S^3 containing a link L in its 1-skeleton. We give an explicit lower bound for the number of tetrahedra of T in terms of the bridge number of L. Our proof is based on the theory of almost normal surfaces.
For every $n \ge 3$, we construct 2-component links in $S^{n+1}$ that are a split by an integer homology $n$-sphere, but not by $S^n$. In the special case $n=3$, i.e. that of 2-links in $S^4$, we produce an infinite family of links $L_\ell$…
The author, in her previous paper, constructed an infinite family of 3-bridge links each of which admits infinitely many 3-bridge spheres up to isotopy. In this paper, we prove that if a prime, unsplittable link $L$ in $S^3$ admits…
We exhibit several families of planar graphs that are minor-minimal intrinsically spherical $3$-linked. A graph is intrinsically spherical 3-linked if it is planar graph that has, in every spherical embedding, a non-split 3-link consisting…
The Meridional Rank Conjecture asks whether the bridge number of a knot in $S^3$ is equal to the minimal number of meridians needed to generate the fundamental group of its complement. In this paper we investigate the analogous conjecture…
Triple linking numbers were defined for 3-component oriented surface-links in 4-space using signed triple points on projections in 3-space. In this paper we give an algebraic formulation using intersections of homology classes (or cup…
Two Seifert surfaces of links in $S^3$ are said to be twist equivalent if one can be obtained from the other, up to isotopy, by repeatedly performing operations consisting of cutting along an embedded arc, applying a full twist near one…
In this paper, we characterize all links in the 3-sphere with bridge number at least three that have a bridge sphere of distance two. We show that a link L has a bridge sphere of distance at most two then it falls into at least one of three…
With the idea of an eventual classification of 3-bridge links,\ we define a very nice class of 3-balls (called butterflies) with faces identified by pairs, such that the identification space is $S^{3},$ and the image of a prefered set of…
We define braid presentation of edge-oriented spatial graphs as a natural generalization of braid presentation of oriented links. We show that every spatial graph has a braid presentation. For an oriented link it is known that the braid…
Given a link $L\subset S^3$, a representation $\pi_1(S^3-L)\to{\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ is {\it trace-free} if it sends each meridian to an element with trace zero. We present a method for completely determining trace-free ${\rm…
Two spheres with centers $p$ and $q$ and signed radii $r$ and $s$ are said to be in contact if $|p-q|^2 = (r-s)^2$. Using Lie's line-sphere correspondence, we show that if $F$ is a field in which $-1$ is not a square, then there is an…
There is a topological embedding $\iota:\mathbb{S}^1\to\mathbb{R}^5$ such that $\pi_3(\mathbb{R}^5\setminus\iota(\mathbb{S}^1))=0$. Therefore, no $3$-sphere can be linked with $\iota(\mathbb{S}^1)$.
The Alexander polynomial in several variables is defined for links in three-dimensional homology spheres, in particular, in the Poincar\'e sphere: the intersection of the surface $S=\{(z_1,z_2,z_3)\in {\mathbb C}^3: z_1^5+z_2^3+z_3^2=0\}$…
We demonstrate the existence of minimal simplicial $n$-complexes which inevitably contain a nonsplittable two-component link formed by an $(n-1)$-sphere and an $n$-sphere in any embedding into $\mathbb{R}^{2n}$. This provides a…
For a link $L$ in the $3$-sphere, the $\pi$-orbifold group $G^\mathrm{orb}(L)$ is defined as a quotient of the link group $G(L)$ of $L$. When there exists an epimorphism $G^\mathrm{orb}(L)\to G^\mathrm{orb}(L')$ fitting into a certain…
Given a semisimple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$, we can represent invariants of tensor products of fundamental representations of the quantum enveloping algebra $U_q(\mathfrak{g})$ using particular directed graphs called webs. In particular…
For each integer $n\ge 2$, we construct infinitely many $n$-component Brunnian links of 3-balls in $S^4$. Our main tool is the third author's result on the existence of splitting spheres for the trivial two-component link of $2$-spheres in…