arXiv research

The paper defines new knot genera and finds bounds for stabilization distances.

Study on Whitehead doubles and their sliceness properties.

We show that if K is any knot whose Ozsvath-Szabo concordance invariant tau(K) is positive, the all-positive Whitehead double of any iterated Bing double of K is topologically but not smoothly slice. We also show that the all-positive Whitehead double of any iterated Bing double of the Hopf link (e.g., the all-positive…

In this paper, we develop a lower bound for the double slice genus of a knot using Casson-Gordon invariants. As an application, we show that the double slice genus can be arbitrarily larger than twice the slice genus. As an analogue to the double slice genus, we also define the superslice genus of a knot, and give both…

Bing doubling is an operation which produces a 2-component boundary link B(K) from a knot K. If K is slice, then B(K) is easily seen to be boundary slice. In this paper, we investigate whether the converse holds. Our main result is that if B(K) is boundary slice, then K is algebraically slice. We also show that the Ras…

The paper shows some Montesinos links can't be doubly sliced strongly.

We give a new geometric obstruction to the iterated Bing double of a knot being a slice link: for n>1 the (n+1)-st iterated Bing double of a knot is rationally slice if and only if the n-th iterated Bing double of the knot is rationally slice. The main technique of the proof is a covering link construction simplifying …

We study the double slice genus of a knot, a natural generalization of slice genus. We define a notion called band number, a natural generalization of band unknotting number, and prove it is an upper bound on double slice genus. Our bound is based on an analysis of broken surface diagrams and embedding properties of 3-…

If the Bing double of a knot K is slice, then K is algebraically slice. In addition, Heegaard--Floer concordance invariants developed by Ozsvath-Szabo and by Manolescu-Owens vanish on K.

We develop a theory of chain complex double-cobordism for chain complexes equipped with Poincaré duality. The resulting double-cobordism groups are a refinement of Ranicki's torsion algebraic $L$-groups for localisations of a commutative ring with involution. The refinement is analogous to the difference between metabo…

Study shows $(2,1)$-cable of figure-eight knot can't be smoothly sliced.

In the present paper we extend the definition of slice-torus invariant to links. We prove a few properties of the newly-defined slice-torus link invariants: the behaviour under crossing change, a slice genus bound, an obstruction to strong sliceness, and a combinatorial bound. Furthermore, we provide an application to …

We introduce a technique for showing classical knots and links are not slice. As one application we show that the iterated Bing doubles of many algebraically slice knots are not topologically slice. Some of the proofs do not use the existence of the Cheeger-Gromov bound, a deep analytical tool used by Cochran-Teichner.…

The paper explores slice disks and their properties using satellite operations and knot Floer homology.

The difference between slice and doubly-slice knots is reflected in algebra by the difference between metabolic and hyperbolic Blanchfield linking forms. We exploit this algebraic distinction to refine the classical Witt group of linking forms by defining a `double Witt group' of linking forms. We calculate the double …

Let K be a knot in S^3. We study the iterated Bing doubles of K, giving a new proof for the following statement: If BD_n(K) is slice for some n, then K is algebraically slice. This result was first proved by Cha and Kim using covering link calculus. We also use this tool, but our proof is substantially simpler and illu…

Study on slicing knots in 4-manifolds, focusing on CP^2-slicing numbers.

A knot in the three-sphere is doubly slice if it is the cross-section of an unknotted two-sphere in the four-sphere. For low-crossing knots, the most complete work to date gives a classification of doubly slice knots through 9 crossings. We extend that work through 12 crossings, resolving all but four cases among the 2…

The paper proves that rational concordance of double twist knots is reciprocal.

Research on knots and their 4-manifold covers.

A criterion ensures double sliceness for certain knots and satellite knots.

We show that if the connected sum of two knots with coprime Alexander polynomials is doubly slice, then the Ozsváth-Szabó correction terms as smooth double sliceness obstructions vanish for both knots. Recently, Jeffrey Meier gave smoothly slice knots that are topologically doubly slice, but not smoothly doubly slice. …

We give a necessary, and in some cases sufficient, condition for sliceness inside the family of pretzel knots $P (p_1,...,p_n)$ with one $p_i$ even. The three stranded case yields two interesting families of examples: the first consists of knots for which the non-sliceness is detected by the Alexander polynomial while …

We develop new algebraic methods refining the Witt group of linking forms and Ranicki's torsion algebraic L-groups into double Witt groups and double L-groups. At each prime ideal of the underlying ring, our double Witt groups capture infinitely many more integral signatures of the linking form than the single Witt gro…

The paper extends knot theory to 4-manifolds, defining new genera and obstructions.

We construct an infinite family of smoothly slice knots that we prove are topologically doubly slice. Using the correction terms coming from Heegaard Floer homology, we show that none of these knots is smoothly doubly slice. We use these knots to show that the subgroup of the double concordance group consisting of smoo…

We define a homology theory of virtual links built out of the direct sum of the standard Khovanov complex with itself, motivating the name doubled Khovanov homology. We demonstrate that it can be used to show that some virtual links are non-classical, and that it yields a condition on a virtual knot being the connect s…

Study identifies prime strongly positive amphicheiral knots with double symmetry.

For $\ell >1$, we develop $L^{(2)}$-signature obstructions for $(4\ell-3)$-dimensional knots with metabelian knot groups to be doubly slice. For each $\ell>1$, we construct an infinite family of knots on which our obstructions are non-zero, but for which double sliceness is not obstructed by any previously known invari…

The operation of (untwisted) Whitehead doubling trivializes the Alexander module of a knot (and consequently, all known abelian invariants), and converts knots to topologically slice ones. In this note we show that Whitehead doubling does not trivialize the rational function that equals to the 2-loop part of the Kontse…

A knot K in the 3-sphere is superslice if there is a slice disk D in the 4-ball such that the double of D along K is the unknotted 2-sphere S in $S^4$. Answering a question of Livingston-Meier, we find smoothly slice (in fact doubly slice) knots in the 3-sphere with Alexander polynomial equal to 1 that are not smoothly…

We consider a homology sphere $M_n(K_1,K_2)$ presented by two knots $K_1,K_2$ with linking number 1 and framing $(0,n)$. We call the manifold {\it Matsumoto's manifold}. We show that there exists no contractible bound of $M_n(T_{2,3},K_2)$ if $n<2τ(K_2)$ holds. We also give a formula of Ozsváth-Szabó's $τ$-invariant as…

New exotic 4D spaces found using knot slicing techniques.

This work investigates the properties of Gaussian-smoothed sliced divergences for comparing distributions.

The study classifies $χ-$slice pretzel links and Seifert fiber spaces.

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 knots, previous bounds on unknotting number obtained by Ozsvath and Szabo and b…

We consider the set of connected surfaces in the 4-ball with boundary a fixed knot in the 3-sphere. We define the stabilization distance between two surfaces as the minimal $g$ such that we can get from one to the other using stabilizations and destabilizations through surfaces of genus at most $g$. Similarly, we consi…

All knots with unknotting number ≤ 21 are smoothly slice in K3 surface.

We show that the regular Slodowy slice to the sum of two semisimple adjoint orbits of $GL(n,C)$ is isomorphic to the deformation of the $D_2$-singularity if $n=2$, the Dancer deformation of the double cover of the Atiyah-Hitchin manifold if $n=3$, and to the Atiyah-Hitchin manifold itself if $n=4$. For higher $n$, such…

Cha and Kim proved that if a knot K is not algebraically slice, then no iterated Bing double of K is concordant to the unlink. We prove that if K has nontrivial signature $σ$, then the n-iterated Bing double of K is not concordant to any boundary link with boundary surfaces of genus less than $2^{n-1}σ$. The same resul…

We give a complete characterization of the topological slice status of odd 3-strand pretzel knots, proving that an odd 3-strand pretzel knot is topologically slice if and only if either it is ribbon or has trivial Alexander polynomial. (By work of [FS85], a nontrivial odd 3-strand pretzel knot $K$ cannot both be ribbon…

A knot in the 3-sphere is called doubly slice if it is a slice of an unknotted 2-sphere in the 4-sphere. We give a bi-sequence of new obstructions for a knot being doubly slice. We construct it following the idea of Cochran-Orr-Teichner's filtration of the classical knot concordance group. This yields a bi-filtration o…

In the 60's Levine proved that if $R$ is a slice knot, then on any genus $g$ Seifert surface for $R$ there is a $g$ component link $J$, called a derivative of $R$, on which the Seifert form vanishes. Many subsequent obstructions to $R$ being slice are given in terms of slice obstructions of $J$. Many of these obstructi…

We study the relationship between fibered ribbon 1-knots and fibered ribbon 2-knots by studying fibered slice disks with handlebody fibers. We give a characterization of fibered homotopy-ribbon disks and give analogues of the Stallings twist for fibered disks and 2-knots. As an application, we produce infinite families…

Spectral sequence connects knot homologies to quotient knots.

Motivated by a result of L.P. Roberts on rational blow-downs in Heegaard-Floer homology, we study such operations along 3-manifolds that arise as branched double covers of $S^{3}$ along several non-alternating, slice knots.

In this paper we study the knot Floer homology invariants of the twisted and untwisted Whitehead doubles of an arbitrary knot K. We present a formula for the filtered chain homotopy type of HFK(D(+,K,t)) in terms of the invariants for K, where D(+,K,t) denotes the t-twisted positive-clasped Whitehead double of K. In pa…

We introduce a new technique for showing classical knots and links are not slice. As one application we resolve a long-standing question as to whether certain natural families of knots contain topologically slice knots. We also present a simpler proof of the result of Cochran-Teichner that the successive quotients of t…