arXiv research

We present a class of knots associated with labelled generic immersions of intervals into the plane and compute their Gordian numbers and 4-dimensional invariants. At least 10% of the knots in Rolfsen's table belong to this class of knots. We call them track knots. They are contained in the class of quasipositive knots…

We show that a hyperbolic 2-bridge knot complement is the unique knot complement in its commensurability class. We also discuss constructions of commensurable hyperbolic knot complements and put forth a conjecture on the number of hyperbolic knot complements in a commensurability class.

The paper classifies knots in real projective 3-space and introduces new geometric tools.

Let K be a hyperbolic (-2,3,n) pretzel knot and M = S^3 K its complement. For these knots, we verify a conjecture of Reid and Walsh: there are at most three knot complements in the commensurability class of M. Indeed, if n \neq 7, we show that M is the unique knot complement in its class. We include examples to illustr…

Khovanov homology shows (4,5) torus knot is a summand in its concordance class.

Symmetric elastic knots are found for certain classes with dihedral symmetry.

We investigate commensurability classes of hyperbolic knot complements in the generic case of knots without hidden symmetries. We show that such knot complements which are commensurable are cyclically commensurable, and that there are at most $3$ hyperbolic knot complements in a cyclic commensurability class. Moreover …

Kirby and Lickorish showed that every knot in the 3-sphere is concordant to a prime knot, equivalently, every concordance class contains a prime knot. We prove here that their result can be strengthened: Every knot in the 3-sphere is invertibly concordant to a prime knot. A consequence is that every double concordance …

We construct elements of the third quandle homology groups of knot quandles, which are called the shadow fundamental classes. They play the same roles for the shadow quandle cocycle invariants of knots as the fundamental classes of knot quandles does for the quandle cocycle invariants. As an application of the shadow f…

We develop homological techniques for finding explicit combinatorial expressions of finite-type cohomology classes of spaces of knots in $R^n, n \ge 3,$ generalizing Polyak--Viro formulas for invariants (i.e. 0-dimensional cohomology classes) of knots in $R^3$. As the first applications we give such formulas for the (r…

This paper exhibits an infinite family of hyperbolic knot complements that have three knot complements in their respective commensurability classes.

In this paper we analyze symmetries, hidden symmetries, and commensurability classes of $(ε, d_L)$-twisted knot complements, which are the complements of knots that have a sufficiently large number of twists in each of their twist regions. These knot complements can be constructed via long Dehn fillings on fully augmen…

We give explicit formulae for the volumes of hyperbolic cone-manifolds of double twist knots, a class of two-bridge knots which includes twist knots and two-bridge knots with Conway notation $C(2n,3)$. We also study the Riley polynomial of a class of one-relator groups which includes two-bridge knot groups.

Study algebraic obstructions to knot-like complex realizability.

New infinite class of hyperbolic knots with high genus and generalized torsion found.

New proof shows knot quandles of ribbon knots are distinct.

New R-equivalence classes found for torus knot diagrams.

We have a knot quandle and a fundamental class as invariants for a surface-knot. These invariants can be defined for a classical knot in a similar way, and it is known that the pair of them is a complete invariant for classical knots. In this paper, we compare a situation in surface-knot theory with that in classical k…

Positive knots are minimal in a specific knot ordering.

We prove that the class of topological knot types that are both Legendrian simple and satisfy the uniform thickness property (UTP) is closed under cabling. An immediate application is that all iterated cabling knot types that begin with negative torus knots are Legendrian simple. We also examine, for arbitrary numbers …

In the present paper we construct a one-to-one correspondence between the set of graph-knots and the set of homotopy classes of looped graphs. Moreover, the graph-knot and the homotopy class constructed from a given knot are related with this correspondence. This correspondence is given by a simple formula.

The inclusion of the space of all knots of a prescribed writhe in a particular isotopy class into the space of all knots in that isotopy class is a weak homotopy equivalence.

The paper confirms a conjecture about knots in aspherical 3-manifolds.

We study collections of planar curves that yield diagrams for all knots. In particular, we show that a very special class called potholder curves carries all knots. This has implications for realizing all knots and links as special types of meanders and braids. We also introduce and apply a method to compare the effici…

Generalizes meander diagrams to virtual knots and introduces new invariants.

We show that every strongly-cyclic branched covering of a (1,1)-knot is a Dunwoody manifold. This result, together with the converse statement previously obtained by Grasselli and Mulazzani, proves that the class of Dunwoody manifolds coincides with the class of strongly-cyclic branched coverings of (1,1)-knots. As a c…

We propose a new method of computing cohomology groups of spaces of knots in $\R^n$, $n \ge 3$, based on the topology of configuration spaces and two-connected graphs, and calculate all such classes of order $\le 3.$ As a byproduct we define the higher indices, which invariants of knots in $\R^3$ define at arbitrary si…

Knot Floer homology is an invariant for knots in the three-sphere for which the Euler characteristic is the Alexander-Conway polynomial of the knot. The aim of this paper is to study this homology for a class of satellite knots, so as to see how a certain relation between the Alexander-Conway polynomials of the satelli…

In this paper, we discuss the region unknotting number of different classes of 2-bridge knots. In particular, we provide region unknotting number for the classes of $2$-bridge knots whose Conway notation is $C(m,\ n), C(m,\ 2,\ m),$ $C(m,\ 2,\ m\pm1)$ and $C(2,\ m,\ 2,\ n)$. By generalizing, we also provide a sharp up…

Proves any three or more knots can form a genus-zero link in a 3-manifold.

Knots in 3-manifolds are equivalent if isotopic, except in special cases.

Classifies knots that bound equivariant surfaces with free symmetries.

We construct cohomology classes in the space of knots by considering a bundle over this space and "integrating along the fiber" classes coming from the cohomology of configuration spaces using a Pontrjagin-Thom construction. The bundle we consider is essentially the one considered by Bott and Taubes, who integrated dif…

Although most knots are nonalternating, modern research in knot theory seems to focus on alternating knots. We consider here nonalternating knots and their properties. Specifically, we show certain classes of knots have nontrivial Jones polynomials.

In this paper, we discuss filamentations on oriented chord diagrams. When a filamentation cannot be realized on an oriented chord diagram, then the corresponding flat virtual knot is non-trivial. If a flat knot diagram is non-trivial, then any virtual diagram whose shadow is the flat diagram must also be non-trivial. W…

We investigate the disparity between smooth and topological almost concordance of knots in general 3-manifolds Y. Almost concordance is defined by considering knots in Y modulo concordance in Yx[0,1] and the action of the concordance group of knots in the 3-sphere that ties in local knots. We prove that the trivial fre…

The paper defines a new equivalence relation for knot projections and finds an infinite number of distinct classes.

This paper studies HOMFLY polynomials of specific and infinite classes of knots.

We confirm the AJ conjecture [Ga04] that relates the A-polynomial and the colored Jones polynomial for those hyperbolic knots satisfying certain conditions. In particular, we show that the conjecture holds true for some classes of two-bridge knots and pretzel knots. This extends the result of the first author in [Le06]…

Polynomially parameterizes knots and spheres, proving analogous results.

New parameterization for $(1,1)$-knots simplifies their study.

We establish a number of results about smooth and topological concordance of knots in $S^1\times S^2$. The winding number of a knot in $S^1\times S^2$ is defined to be its class in $H_1(S^1\times S^2;\mathbb{Z})\cong \mathbb{Z}$. We show that there is a unique smooth concordance class of knots with winding number one. …

Researchers establish a connection between knot homology and Lie algebra actions.

We study petal diagrams of knots, which provide a method of describing knots in terms of permutations in a symmetric group $S_{2n+1}$. We define two classes of moves on such permutations, called trivial petal additions and crossing exchanges, which do not change the isotopy class of the underlying knot. We prove that a…

We prove a complete classification theorem for loose Legendrian knots in an oriented 3-manifold, generalizing results of Dymara and Ding-Geiges. Our approach is to classify knots in a $3$-manifold $M$ that are transverse to a nowhere-zero vector field $V$ up to the corresponding isotopy relation. Such knots are called …

We present two different representations of (1,1)-knots and study some connections between them. The first representation is algebraic: every (1,1)-knot is represented by an element of the pure mapping class group of the twice punctured torus. The second representation is parametric: every (1,1)-knot can be represented…

New examples show transverse knots are determined by their branched covers.

A conjecture proposed by J. Tripp in 2002 states that the crossing number of any knot coincides with the canonical genus of its Whitehead double. In the meantime, it has been established that this conjecture is true for a large class of alternating knots including $(2, n)$ torus knots, $2$-bridge knots, algebraic alter…