arXiv research

Study on knots using 17 colors, finding specific color assignments.

The paper computes groups and modules for wheel graphs using Fibonacci and Chebyshev polynomials.

This paper has two-fold goal: it provides gentle introduction to Knot Theory starting from 3-coloring, the concept introduced by R. Fox to allow undergraduate students to see that the trefoil knot is non-trivial, and ending with statistical mechanics. On the way we prove various (old and new) facts about knots. We rela…

Relations will be described between the quandle cocycle invariant and the minimal number of colors used for non-trivial Fox colorings of knots and links. In particular, a lower bound for the minimal number is given in terms of the quandle cocycle invariant.

The paper proves a generalized Kauffman-Harary conjecture for prime determinant links.

The paper shows links can be colored with fewer colors than previously thought.

Study on coloring virtual tangles with integer and modular arithmetic.

This expository paper describes how the knot invariant Fox coloring can be applied to tangles.

Fox coloring provides a combinatorial framework for studying dihedral representations of the knot group. The less well-known concept of Dehn coloring captures the same data. Recent work of Carter-Silver-Williams clarifies the relationship between the two focusing on how one transitions between Fox and Dehn colorings. I…

In this article we show that if a knot diagram admits a non-trivial coloring modulo 13 then there is an equivalent diagram which can be colored with 5 colors. Leaning on known results, this implies that the minimum number of colors modulo 13 is 5.

The paper introduces two-tone colorings for links and shows conditions for surjective dihedral representations.

This article concerns exact results on the minimum number of colors of a Fox coloring over the integers modulo r, of a link with non-null determinant. Specifically, we prove that whenever the least prime divisor of the determinant of such a link and the modulus r is 2, 3, 5, or 7, then the minimum number of colors is 2…

For a link with zero determinants, a Z-coloring is defined as a generalization of Fox coloring. We call a link having a diagram which admits a non-trivial Z-coloring a Z-colorable link. The minimal coloring number of a Z-colorable link is the minimal number of colors for non-trivial Z-colorings on diagrams of the link.…

This paper is an extended account of my "Introductory Plenary talk at Knots in Hellas 2016" conference We start from the short introduction to Knot Theory from the historical perspective, starting from Heraclas text (the first century AD), mentioning R.Llull (1232-1315), A.Kircher (1602-1680), Leibniz idea of Geometria…

We prove the Kauffman-Harary Conjecture, posed in 1999: given a reduced, alternating diagram D of a knot with prime determinant p, every non-trivial Fox p-coloring of D will assign different colors to different arcs.

This survey article discusses three aspects of knot colorings. Fox colorings are assignments of labels to arcs, Dehn colorings are assignments of labels to regions, and Alexander-Briggs colorings assign labels to vertices. The labels are found among the integers modulo n. The choice of n depends upon the knot. Each typ…

This paper is base on talks which I gave in May, 2010 at Workshop in Trieste (ICTP). In the first part we present an introduction to knots and knot theory from an historical perspective, starting from Summerian knots and ending on Fox 3-coloring. We show also a relation between 3-colorings and the Jones polynomial. In …

Knot colorings are one of the simplest ways to distinguish knots, dating back to Reidemeister, and popularized by Fox. In this mostly expository article, we discuss knot invariants like colorability, knot determinant and number of colorings, and how these can be computed from either the coloring matrix or the Goeritz m…

Let $K\subset S^3$ be a Fox $p$-colored knot and assume $K$ bounds a locally flat surface $S\subset B^4$ over which the given $p$-coloring extends. This coloring of $S$ induces a dihedral branched cover $X\to S^4$. Its branching set is a closed surface embedded in $S^4$ locally flatly away from one singularity whose li…

Researchers study chirality in a specific type of torus-covering link.

We study the number of Reidemeister type III moves using Fox n-colorings of knot diagrams.

We study the Fox coloring invariants of rational knots. We express the propagation of the colors down the twists of these knots and ultimately the determinant of them with the help of finite increasing sequences whose terms of even order are even and whose terms of odd order are odd.

Kjuchukova's $Ξ_p$ invariant gives a ribbon obstruction for Fox $p$-colored knots. The invariant is derived from dihedral branched covers of 4-manifolds, and is needed to calculate the signatures of these covers, when singularities on the branching sets are present. In this note, we give an algorithm for evaluating $Ξ_…

Dihedral linking invariant uses knot colorings to distinguish knots.

For each odd prime p, and for each non-split link admitting non-trivial p-colorings, we prove that the maximum number of Fox colors is p. We also prove that we can assemble a non-trivial p-coloring with any number of colors, from the minimum to the maximum number of colors. Furthermore, for any rational link, we prove …

We investigate the twisted Alexander polynomial of a 2-bridge knot associated to a Fox coloring. For several families of 2-bridge knots, including but not limited to, torus knots and genus-one knots, we derive formulae for these twisted Alexander polynomials. We use these formulae to confirm a conjecture of Hirasawa an…

Improved lower bound for knot coloring using quandles.

We extend the notion of link colorings with values in an Alexander quandle to link colorings with values in a module $M$ over the Laurent polynomial ring $Λ_μ=\mathbb{Z}[t_1^{\pm1},\dots,t_μ^{\pm1}]$. If $D$ is a diagram of a link $L$ with $μ$ components, then the colorings of $D$ with values in $M$ form a $Λ_μ$-module…

The Kauffman-Harary conjecture states that for any reduced alternating diagram K of a knot with a prime determinant p, every non-trivial Fox p-coloring of K assigns different colors to its arcs. We generalize the conjecture by stating it in terms of homology of the double cover of S^3 branched along a link. In this way…

In 1999, Kauffman-Harary conjectured that every non-trivial Fox $p$-coloring of a reduced, alternating knot diagram with prime determinant $p$ is heterogeneous. Ten years later this conjecture was proved by W. Mattman and P. Solis. Mathew Williamson generalized this conjecture to alternating virtual knots and proved it…

A torus-covering $T^2$-knot is a surface-knot of genus one determined from a pair of commutative braids. For a torus-covering $T^2$-knot $F$, we determine the number of irreducible metabelian $SU(2)$-representations of the knot group of $F$ in terms of the knot determinant of $F$. It is similar to the result due to Lin…

The paper studies Fox pairings of Poincaré duality groups using group cohomology.

This article is about applications of linear algebra to knot theory. For example, for odd prime p, there is a rule (given in the article) for coloring the arcs of a knot or link diagram from the residues mod p. This is a knot invariant in the sense that if a diagram of the knot under study admits such a coloring, then …

Log-concave coefficient sequences for two-bridge knots proved.

We introduce a notion of a Fox pairing in a group algebra and use Fox pairings to define automorphisms of the Malcev completions of groups. These automorphisms generalize to the algebraic setting the action of the Dehn twists in the group algebras of the fundamental groups of surfaces. This work is inspired by the Kawa…

We construct solutions to the set-theoretic Yang-Baxter equation using braid group representations in free group automorphisms and their Fox differentials. The method resembles the extensions of groups and quandles.

By the Fox's re-embedding theorem, any compact submanifold of the 3-sphere can be re-embedded in the 3-sphere so that it is unknotted. It is unknown whether the Fox's re-embedding can be replaced with twistings. In this paper, we will show that any closed 2-manifold embedded in the 3-sphere can be unknotted by twisting…

New Vassiliev invariant of order three derived from Fox-Hatcher cycles.

Study on Fox's trapezoidal conjecture for specific alternating links.

A knot in a thickened surface $K$ is a smooth embedding $K:S^1 \rightarrow Σ\times [0,1]$, where $Σ$ is a closed, connected, orientable surface. There is a bijective correspondence between knots in $S^2 \times [0,1]$ and knots in $S^3$, so one can view the study of knots in thickened surfaces as an extension of classic…

This is a sequel to [arXiv:1708.09092v2]. For an oriented trivalent graph $G$ without source or sink embedded in $S^3$, we prove that the $\mathfrak{gl}(1| 1)$-Alexander polynomial $\underlineΔ(G, c)$ defined by Viro satisfies a series of relations, which we call MOY-type relations in [arXiv:1708.09092v2]. As a corolla…

We study Kuperberg invariants for sutured manifolds in the case of a semidirect product of an involutory Hopf superalgebra $H$ with its automorphism group $\text{Aut}(H)$. These are topological invariants of balanced sutured 3-manifolds endowed with a homomorphism of the fundamental group into $\text{Aut}(H)$ and possi…

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 Kauffman skein module is a deformation of a 2-move, i.e. a crossing change). Our main …

We solve a century-old conjecture about Alexander polynomials of special alternating links.

Formula calculates volume of two-bridge knots.

Mandelbrot unified diverse fields with scaling concept.

Paper uses Long-Moody construction for new braid group representations.

Characterizes a specific type of alternating knot.