arXiv research

Positive braid knots have simple knot Floer homology.

Paper constructs infinitely many non-braid positive hyperbolic L-space knots.

New satellite knots found that can't be represented by positive braids with full twists.

Study proves bridge and braid indices match for twist positive knots.

We find braid positive presentations for most L-space knots, except one, and explore related knot properties.

Positive braids with at least two twists form hyperbolic knots.

We prove new results about unknotting fibered positive knots and braids.

The study connects twist positivity to L-space knots and concordance.

A knot $K_1$ is said to be Gordian adjacent to a knot $K_2$ if $K_1$ is an intermediate knot on an unknotting sequence of $K_2$. We extend previous results on Gordian adjacency by showing sufficient conditions for Gordian adjacency between classes of positive braid knots through manipulations of braid words. In additio…

We show that a positive braid knot has maximal topological 4-genus exactly if it has maximal signature invariant. As an application, we determine all positive braid knots with maximal topological 4-genus and compute the topological 4-genus for all positive braid knots with up to 12 crossings.

Study positive braid knots and their taut foliations, proving some L-space conjecture evidence.

Positive braids linked to knot invariants and geometric monodromy groups.

We show that the difference between the Seifert genus and the topological 4-genus of a prime positive braid knot is bounded from below by an affine function of the minimal number of strands among positive braid representatives of the knot. We deduce that among prime positive braid knots, the property of having such a g…

We give examples of knots with some unusual properties of the crossing number of positive diagrams or strand number of positive braid representations. In particular we show that positive braid knots may not have positive minimal (strand number) braid representations, giving a counterpart to results of Franks-Williams a…

We prove that positive knots and knots with braid index three in the 3-sphere satisfy the Property P conjecture.

We use Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó's Upsilon-invariant to provide bounds on cobordisms between knots that `contain full-twists'. In particular, we recover and generalize a classical consequence of the Morton-Franks-Williams inequality for knots: positive braids that contain a positive full-twist realize the braid inde…

The paper calculates a knot invariant for 3-braid knots.

Positive braids minimize knot untangling steps.

Formula found for braid index of $n$-bridge braids.

Classifies 3-braid knots with maximal 4-genus using McCoy's method.

The paper defines and computes a knot complement invariant for simple links.

Positive permutation braids on n strings, which are defined to be positive n-braids where each pair of strings crosses at most once, form the elementary but non-trivial building blocks in many studies of conjugacy in the braid groups. We consider conjugacy among these elementary braids which close to knots, and show th…

The study explores knots and manifolds, proving properties and non-left-orderable groups.

We characterise positive braid links with positive Seifert form via a finite number of forbidden minors. From this we deduce a one-to-one correspondence between prime positive braid links with positive Seifert form and simply laced Dynkin diagrams, as well as a simple classification of alternating positive braid knots.

New infinite family of knots found with unique properties.

Satellite links of fully positive braids are characterized.

We provide linear lower bounds for the signature of positive braids in terms of the three genus of their braid closure. This yields linear bounds for the topological slice genus of knots that arise as closures of positive braids.

The unknotting number of a positive braid with n strands and k intersections is known to be equal to (k-n+1)/2. We consider Lorenz knots (which are positive braids) and, using a different method, find their unknotting numbers in terms of their positions on the Lorenz attractor.

It was asked by J.Birman, Williams, and L.Rudolph whether nontrivial Lorentz knots have always positive signature. Lorentz knots are examples of positive braids (in our convention they have all crossings negative so they are negative links). It was shown by L.Rudolph that positive braids have positive signature (if the…

Study grid homology of diagonal knots, finding key terms related to prime factors and decompositions.

The paper studies hyperbolic geometry of links formed by adding trivial components to knots.

Study shows quasi-additivity of Δ-unknotting number for braids.

For a knot K, let b_n(K) be the minimum length of an n-stranded braid representative of K. Examples of knots exist for which b_n(K) is a non-increasing function. We investigate the behavior of b_n(K). We develop bounds on the function in terms of the genus of K, with stronger results for homogeneous knots and braid pos…

Any knot $K$ in genus-$1$ $1$-bridge position can be moved by isotopy to lie in a union of $n$ parallel tori tubed by $n-1$ tubes so that $K$ intersects each tube in two spanning arcs, which we call a leveling of the position. The minimal $n$ for which this is possible is an invariant of the position, called the level …

The paper constructs infinitely many prime hyperbolic knots.

We construct taut foliations in every closed 3-manifold obtained by $r$-framed Dehn surgery along a positive 3-braid knot $K$ in $S^3$, where $r < 2g(K)-1$ and $g(K)$ denotes the Seifert genus of $K$. This confirms a prediction of the L-space Conjecture. For instance, we produce taut foliations in every non-L-space obt…

We prove that a nicely fibered link (by which we mean the binding of an open book) in a tight contact manifold $(M,ξ)$ with zero Giroux torsion has a transverse representative realizing the Bennequin bound if and only if the contact structure it supports (since it is also the binding of an open book) is $ξ.$ This gives…

We give asymptotically sharp upper bounds for the Khovanov width and the dealternation number of positive braid links, in terms of their crossing number. The same braid-theoretic technique, combined with Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó's Upsilon invariant, allows us to determine the exact cobordism distance between torus …

Study cobordism distances between 3-braid links and trefoil knots.

We give an upper bound for the dealternating number of a closed 3-braid. As applications, we determine the dealternating numbers, the alternation numbers and the Turaev genera of some closed positive 3-braids. We also show that there exist infinitely many positive knots with any dealternating number (or any alternation…

Characterizes diagrams achieving Morton-Franks-Williams inequality for positive knots and links.

A knot in the 3-sphere in genus-1 1-bridge position (called a (1,1)-position) can be described by an element of the braid group of two points in the torus. Our main results tell how to translate between a braid group element and the sequence of slope invariants of the upper and lower tunnels of the (1,1)-position. Afte…

In this note, we prove a lower bound for the positive kinkiness of a closed braid which we then use to derive an estimate for the positive kinkiness of a link in terms of its Seifert system. As an application, we show that certain pretzel knots cannot be unknotted using only positive crossing changes. We also describe …

Characterizes a subset of links using quasipositive and homogeneous properties.

In Dunfield's catalog of the hyperbolic manifolds in the SnapPy census which are complements of L-space knots in $S^3$, we determine that $22$ have tunnel number $2$ while the remaining all have tunnel number $1$. Notably, these $22$ manifolds contain $9$ asymmetric L-space knot complements. Furthermore, using SnapPy a…

Researchers create a new invariant for knot theory.

Positive surgery on knots in weakly fillable 3-manifolds yields weakly fillable contact structures.

A companion paper to "On knot Floer homology in branched double covers" applied to braided branched loci. We reprove the main result of that paper concerning alternating branched loci when projected to an annulus, without using Khovanov homology. This provides two advantages: 1) the results hold for integer coefficient…