arXiv research

This is the first in a series of four papers wherein we enumerate all prime alternating knots and links. In this first paper, we introduce four operators on knots and show that, when used according to very simple rules on the prime alternating knots of n crossings, the set of all prime alternating knots of n+1 crossing…

New invariant for prime alternating knots from error-correcting codes

This paper finds all prime alternating knots with minimal warping degree two.

Minimal grid diagrams for 12-crossing prime knots identified.

This is the second of a part series devoted to enumerating prime alternating knots and links. In Part I, we introduced four operators on knots and showed that if these operators are applied to the set of all prime alternating knots of n crossings, the set of all prime alternating knots of n+1 crossings is obtained. In …

This is the third paper in a series devoted to enumerating the prime alternating knots and links. This paper establishes a method for enumerating the prime alternating links. It is shown that one may choose any prime alternating link diagram of a given minimal crossing size and by applications of just two operators (T …

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…

Let K be a an alternating prime knot in the 3-sphere. We investigate the category of flypes between reduced alternating diagrams for K. As a consequence, we show that any odd prime order action on K is isotopic through maps of pairs to a single flype. This implies that for any odd prime order action on K there is eithe…

Algorithm finds ribbon disks for alternating knots, resolving sliceness for most prime knots.

This paper computes Kakimizu complexes for all 11 crossing prime alternating knots.

Cyclic covers of knots uniquely determine the original knot.

Minimal grid diagrams found for 13-crossing prime knots.

As a supplement to the authors' article "Prime knots with arc index up to 11 and an upper bound of arc index for non-alternating knots", to appear in the Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications, we present minimal arc presentations of the prime knots up to arc index 11.

Ito-Takimura recently defined a splice-unknotting number $u^-(D)$ for knot diagrams. They proved that this number provides an upper bound for the crosscap number of any prime knot, asking whether equality holds in the alternating case. We answer their question in the affirmative. (Ito has independently proven the same …

Every knot can be embedded in the union of finitely many half planes with a common boundary line in such a way that the portion of the knot in each half plane is a properly embedded arc. The minimal number of such half planes is called the arc index of the knot. We have identified all prime knots with arc index up to 1…

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

This paper tabulates prime knot projections up to eight double points.

This article is devoted to the study of prime alternating +achiral knots. In the case of arborescent knots, we prove in +AAA Visibility Theorem 5.1, that the symmetry is visible on a certain projection (not necessarily minimal) and that it is realised by a homeomorphism of order 4. In the general case (arborescent or n…

Minimal grid diagrams for 15,735 knots with 14 crossings and arc index 14.

This paper is devoted to prove the existence of $q$-periodic alternating projections of prime alternating $q$-periodic knots. The main tool is the Menasco-Thistlethwaite's Flyping theorem. Let $K$ be an oriented prime alternating knot that is $q$-periodic with $q\geq 3$, i.e. $K$ admits a symmetry that is a rotation of…

Decomposing knots and links into tangles is a useful technique for understanding their properties. The notion of prime tangles was introduced by Kirby and Lickorish in [3]; Lickorish proved [5] that by summing prime tangles one obtains a prime link. In a similar spirit, summing two prime alternating tangles will produc…

Minimal grid diagrams found for 13-crossing prime knots with 13 arc index.

Proves special alternating knots cannot be decomposed as non-trivial band sums.

New method for simplifying knots with specific properties.

It is known that the arc index of alternating knots is the minimal crossing number plus two and the arc index of prime nonalternating knots is less than or equal to the minimal crossing number. We study some cases when the arc index is strictly less than the minimal crossing number. We also give minimal grid diagrams o…

We derive new obstructions to periodicity of classical knots by employing the Heegaard Floer correction terms of the finite cyclic branched covers of the knots. Applying our results to two fold covers, we demonstrate through numerous examples that our obstructions are successful where many existing periodicity obstruct…

The m,n Turk's Head Knot, THK(m,n), is an "alternating (m,n) torus knot." We prove the Harary-Kauffman conjecture for all THK(m,n) except for the case where m \geq 5 is odd and n \geq 3 is relatively prime to m. We also give evidence in support of the conjecture in that case. Our proof rests on the observation that non…

We study the set of Crowell states for alternating knot projections and show that for prime alternating knots the space of states for a reduced projection is connected, a result similar to that for Kauffman states. As an application we give a new proof of a result of Ozsvath and Szabo characterizing (2,2n+1) torus knot…

We give a topological characterisation of alternating knot exteriors based on the presence of special spanning surfaces. This shows that alternating is a topological property of the knot exterior and not just a property of diagrams, answering an old question of Fox. We also give a characterisation of alternating link e…

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…

We developed an efficient algorithm to factorize knots.

Classifies 85 tie knots into mathematical categories.

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…

We say that a link $L_1$ is an s-major of a link $L_2$ if any diagram of $L_1$ can be transformed into a diagram of $L_2$ by changing some crossings and smoothing some crossings. This relation is a partial ordering on the set of all prime alternating links. We determine this partial order for all prime alternating knot…

Roberts proved that a family of alternating, arborescent, prime knots each have at least $2^{2n-1}$ distinct minimal genus Seifert surfaces, where $n$ is the genus of the knot in question. We give a subfamily of these knots that have exactly this many minimal genus Seifert surfaces.

Families of alternating knots (links) and tangles are studied using as building block the conway defined as the twisting of two strands. The regular representation of knots assumes the projection has the minimal number of overpassings, and the minimal number of conways. The continued fraction associated to rational kno…

The paper explores orderability in link quandles and provides various results.

We extend an approach of Beliakova for computing knot Floer homology and implement it in a publicly available computer program. We review the main programming and optimization methods used. Our program is then used to check that the Floer homology of a prime non-alternating knot with less than 12 crossings has no torsi…

New method calculates knot and link properties using state codes.

We generalize the Manolescu-Owens smooth concordance invariant delta(K) of knots K in the 3-sphere to invariants delta_{p^n}(K) obtained by considering covers of order p^n, with p prime. Our main result shows that for any odd prime p, the direct sum of delta_{p^n} as n ranges through the natural numbers, yields a homom…

An equilateral stick number $s_{=}(K)$ of a knot $K$ is defined to be the minimal number of sticks required to construct a polygonal knot of $K$ which consists of equal length sticks. Rawdon and Scharein [12] found upper bounds for the equilateral stick numbers of all prime knots through 10 crossings by using algorithm…

We extend the construction of upsilon-type invariants to null-homologous knots in rational homology three-spheres. By considering $m$-fold cyclic branched covers with $m$ a prime power, this extension provides new knot concordance invariants $Υ_m^C (K)$ of knots in $S^3$. We give computations of these invariants for so…

We give constructions to realize an odd number, which is representable as sum of two squares, as determinant of an achiral knot, thus proving that these are exactly the numbers occurring as such determinants. Later we study which numbers occur as determinants of prime alternating achiral knots, and obtain a complete re…

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 …

Study shows alternating knots can't have similar crossings.

Listed 19,513 prime knots with arc index 12-16.

Computed the 4-genus for all 12-crossing prime knots.

Study quantizes ropelength and writhe of 12-crossing knots.