arXiv research

Refined 1-cocycle for knots helps quantify isotopies.

This paper introduces two virtual knot theory ``analogues'' of a well-known family of invariants for knots in thickened surfaces: the Grishanov-Vassiliev finite-type invariants of order two. The first, called the three loop isotopy invariant, is an invariant of virtual knots while the second, called the three loop fram…

Uniform convergence of isotopies implies ambient isotopy, aiding knot equivalence.

We classify Legendrian torus knots and figure eight knots in the tight contact structure on the 3-sphere up to Legendrian isotopy. As a corollary to this we also obtain the classification of transversal torus knots and figure eight knots up to transversal isotopy.

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 extends knot contact homology to tangles and proves a gluing formula.

Invariants derived for rail knotoids based on associated knots.

Projection maps virtual Legendrian knots to classical ones.

The abstract discusses conjectures about virtual Legendrian knots and their relation to causality.

Develops a framework for stuck knots with rigid constraints and invariants.

Fix a straight line L in Euclidean 3-space and consider the fibration of the complement of L by half-planes. A generic knot K in the complement of L has neither fiber quadrisecants nor fiber extreme secants such that K touches the corresponding half-plane at 2 points. Both types of secants occur in generic isotopies of…

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

An elementary stabilization of a Legendrian link $L$ in the spherical cotangent bundle $ST^*M$ of a surface $M$ is a surgery that results in attaching a handle to $M$ along two discs away from the image in $M$ of the projection of the link $L$. A virtual Legendrian isotopy is a composition of stabilizations, destabiliz…

New gauge theory invariant detects non-smooth isotopy of $P^2$-knots.

Introduces a Cost function to measure Legendrian knot obstructions.

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

Physical knots and links are one-dimensional submanifolds of R^3 with fixed length and thickness. We show that isotopy classes in this category can differ from those of classical knot and link theory. In particular we exhibit a Gordian Split Link, a two component link that is split in the classical theory but cannot be…

The abstract discusses knots and their isotopy to the unknot, proving a specific case.

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

In this paper we first give a one-move version of Markov's braid theorem for knot isotopy in $S^3$ that sharpens the classical theorem. Then a relative version of Markov's theorem concerning a fixed braided portion in the knot. We also prove an analogue of Markov's theorem for knot isotopy in knot complements. Finally …

We study virtual isotopy sequences with classical initial and final diagrams, asking when such a sequence can be changed into a classical isotopy sequence by replacing virtual crossings with classical crossings. An example of a sequence for which no such virtual crossing realization exists is given. A conjecture on con…

Generalizing Milnor's result that an FTC (finite total curvature) knot has an isotopic inscribed polygon, we show that any two nearby knotted FTC graphs are isotopic by a small isotopy. We also show how to obtain sharper constants when the starting curve is smooth. We apply our main theorem to prove a limiting result f…

Links in lens spaces may be defined to be equivalent by ambient isotopy or by diffeomorphism of pairs. In the first case, for all the combinatorial representations of links, there is a set of Reidemeister-type moves on diagrams connecting isotopy equivalent links. In this paper we provide a set of moves on disk, band a…

We classify positive transversal torus knots in tight contact structures up to transversal isotopy.

In this paper we classify, up to rigid isotopy, non-singular real rational curves of degrees less than or equal to 6 in a quadric homeomorphic to the 3-sphere. We also study their connections with rigid isotopy classes of real rational knots in $\mathbb{RP}^3$.

New algebraic structure for 2-string links and long knots.

This paper solves the equivalence problem for projectivizations of knots in 3D.

We construct an enhanced version of knot contact homology, and show that we can deduce from it the group ring of the knot group together with the peripheral subgroup. In particular, it completely determines a knot up to smooth isotopy. The enhancement consists of the (fully noncommutative) Legendrian contact homology a…

Quantum model for knotted graphs from knot theory.

A knot type is exchange reducible if an arbitrary closed n-braid representative can be changed to a closed braid of minimum braid index by a finite sequence of braid isotopies, exchange moves and +/- destabilizations. In the manuscript [J Birman and NC Wrinkle, On transversally simple knots, preprint (1999)] a transver…

The space of n-sided polygons embedded in three-space consists of a smooth manifold in which points correspond to piecewise linear or ``geometric'' knots, while paths correspond to isotopies which preserve the geometric structure of these knots. The topology of these spaces for the case n = 6 and n = 7 is described. In…

New knot polynomials distinguish knot orientations without using knot groups.

We construct families of trivial $2$-knots $K_i$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ such that the maximal complexity of $2$-knots in any isotopy connecting $K_i$ with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the complexity of $K_i$. Here we can either construct $K_i$ as smooth embeddings and …

All knots are fused isotopic to the unknot via a process known as virtualization. We extend and adapt this process to show that, up to fused isotopy, classical links are classified by their linking numbers.

This paper is on the classical Knotting Problem: for a given manifold N and a number m describe the set of isotopy classes of embeddings $N\to S^m$. We study the specific case of knotted tori, i. e. the embeddings $S^p \times S^q \to S^m$. The classification of knotted tori up to isotopy in the metastable dimension ran…

Entangled embedded periodic nets and crystal frameworks are defined, along with their dimension type, homogeneity type, adjacency depth and periodic isotopy type. We obtain periodic isotopy classifications for various families of embedded nets with small quotient graphs. We enumerate the 25 periodic isotopy classes of …

Study of cable links of uniformly thick knots, revealing new isotopy phenomena.

Proves a theorem for comparing surfaces in 3D space.

Budney recently constructed an operad that encodes splicing of knots. He further showed that the space of (long) knots is generated over this operad by the space of torus knots and hyperbolic knots, thus generalizing the satellite decomposition of knots from isotopy classes to the level of the space of knots. Infection…

We classify the Legendrian torus knots in S^1\times S^2 with its standard tight contact structure up to Legendrian isotopy.

We prove a neighbourhood theorem for arbitrary knots in contact 3-manifolds. As an application we show that two topologically isotopic Legendrian knots in a contact 3-manifold become Legendrian isotopic after suitable stabilisations.

We show that every canonical Seifert surface is (up to isotopy) given by a knot diagram in which the (open) Seifert disks are pairwise disjoint.

The Yokonuma-Hecke algebras are quotients of the modular framed braid group and they support Markov traces. In this paper, which is sequel to Juyumaya and Lambropoulou (2007), we explore further the structures of the $p$-adic framed braids and the $p$-adic Yokonuma-Hecke algebras constructed in Juyumaya and Lambropoulo…

The problem of classification of Legendrian knots (links) up to isotopy in the class of Legendrian embeddings (Legendrian isotopy) naturally leads to the following two subproblems. The first of them is: which combinations of the three classical invariants can be realized by a Legendrian knot? (It is well-known that eac…

It is well-known that no knot can be cancelled in a connected sum with another knot, whereas every link can be cancelled up to link homotopy in a (componentwise) connected sum with another link. In this paper we address the question whether the noncancellation property of knots holds for some (piecewise-linear) links u…

Fractional Dehn twists give a measure of the difference between the relative isotopy class of a homeomorphism of a bordered surface and the Thurston representative of its free isotopy class. We show how to estimate and compute these invariants. We discuss the the relationship of our work to stabilization problems in cl…

A holonomic knot is a knot in 3-space which arises as the 2-jet extension of a smooth function on the circle. A holonomic knot associated to a generic function is naturally framed by the blackboard framing of the knot diagram associated to the 1-jet extension of the function. There are two classical invariants of frame…

We give a combinatorial description of the Legendrian differential graded algebra associated to a Legendrian knot in PxR, where P is a punctured Riemann surface. As an application we show that for any integer k and any homology class h in H_1(PxR) there are k Legendrian knots all representing h which are pairwise smoot…