arXiv research

We discuss relations among various positivities of knots and links, such as strong quasipositivity and quasipositivity. We give several pieces of supporting evidence for conjectural statements concerning these positivities and the defect of Bennequin inequality. Finally, we determine strong quasipositivity and quasipos…

Simple condition proves when 2-bridge knots are quasipositive.

Links can be transformed into many others using a specific operation.

It has been known that any Alexander polynomial of a knot can be realized by a quasipositive knot. As a consequence, the Alexander polynomial cannot detect quasipositivity. In this paper we prove a similar result about Vassiliev invariants: for any oriented knot K and any natural number n there exists a quasipositive k…

Short note on braid index and quasipositivity of certain pretzel knots.

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…

New cobordisms found between certain quasipositive knots.

We prove that any link admitting a diagram with a single negative crossing is strongly quasipositive. This answers a question of Stoimenow's in the (strong) positive. As a second main result, we give simple and complete characterizations of link diagrams with quasipositive canonical surface (the surface produced by Sei…

In this paper we use artificial neural networks to predict and help compute the values of certain knot invariants. In particular, we show that neural networks are able to predict when a knot is quasipositive with a high degree of accuracy. Given a knot with unknown quasipositivity we use these predictions to identify b…

In this paper we examine the relationship between various types of positivity for knots and the concodance invariant tau discovered by Ozsvath and Szabo and independently by Rasmussen. The main result shows that, for fibered knots, tau characterizes strong quasipositivity. This is quantified by the statement that for K…

We prove that every knot in the 3-space bounds an embedded punctured Moebius band whose other boundary component is a quasipositive fibred knot.

Study negative band numbers in braids and links.

Construct divide knots with specific genus properties.

We study Khovanov homology classes which have state cycle representatives, and examine how they interact with Jacobsson homomorphisms and Lee's map $Φ$. As an application, we describe a general procedure, quasipositive modification, for constructing H-thick knots in rational Khovanov homology. Moreover, we show that sp…

The unknotting number of a knot is bounded from below by its slice genus. It is a well-known fact that the genera and unknotting numbers of torus knots coincide. In this note we characterize quasipositive knots for which the genus bound is sharp: the slice genus of a quasipositive knot equals its unknotting number, if …

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

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

New proof shows L-space knots are fibered and have specific properties.

Characterizes a subset of links using quasipositive and homogeneous properties.

Instantons prove knots are fibered and strongly quasipositive.

We use recently introduced Rasmussen invariant to find knots that are topologically locally-flatly slice but not smoothly slice. We note that this invariant can be used to give a combinatorial proof of the slice-Bennequin inequality. Finally, we compute the Rasmussen invariant for quasipositive knots and show that most…

This article was originally published in Topology 31 (1992). The present hyperTeXed redaction corrects a few typographical errors and updates the references.

Study on pretzel knots showing cyclic branched covers are L-spaces.

Study symplectic cobordisms to empty sets, called hats, in 3-sphere and blow-ups.

The study connects knot Floer homology and Lagrangian cobordisms.

Let $L$ be a oriented link such that $Σ_n(L)$, the $n$-fold cyclic cover of $S^3$ branched over $L$, is an L-space for some $n \geq 2$. We show that if either $L$ is a strongly quasipositive link other than one with Alexander polynomial a multiple of $(t-1)^{2g(L) + (|L|-1)}$, or $L$ is a quasipositive link other than …

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

We explore properties of braids such as their fractional Dehn twist coefficients, right-veeringness, and quasipositivity, in relation to the transverse invariant from Khovanov homology defined by Plamenevskaya for their closures, which are naturally transverse links in the standard contact $3$-sphere. For any $3$-braid…

Study shows volume and genus unrelated for hyperbolic fibred knots.

The paper finds a new lower bound on the genus of surfaces in indefinite 4-manifolds.

[Original abstract (1992):] The modulus of quasipositivity q(K) of a knot K was introduced as a tool in the knot theory of complex plane curves, and can be applied to Legendrian knot theory in symplectic topology. It has also, however, a straightforward characterization in ordinary knot theory: q(K) is the supremum of …

We show there exist infinitely many knots of every fixed genus $g\geq 2$ which do not admit surgery to an L-space, despite resembling algebraic knots and L-space knots in general: they are algebraically concordant to the torus knot $T(2,2g+1)$ of the same genus and they are fibred and strongly quasipositive.

For every link $L$ we construct a complex algebraic plane curve that intersects $S^3$ transversally in a link $\tilde{L}$ that contains $L$ as a sublink. This construction proves that every link $L$ is the sublink of a quasipositive link that is a satellite of the Hopf link. The explicit construction of the complex pla…

Let $u(K)$ and $g(K)$ denote the unknotting number and the genus of a knot $K$, respectively. For a 3-braid knot $K$, we show that $u(K)\le g(K)$ holds, and that if $u(K)=g(K)$ then $K$ is either a 2-braid knot, a connected sum of two 2-braid knots, the figure-eight knot, a strongly quasipositive knot or its mirror ima…

A homogeneous knot is a generalization of alternating knots and positive knots. We determine the Rasmussen invariant of a homogeneous knot. This is a new class of knots such that the Rasmussen invariant is explicitly described in terms of its diagrams. As a corollary, we obtain some characterizations of a positive knot…

For every genus $g\geq 2$, we construct an infinite family of strongly quasipositive fibred knots having the same Seifert form as the torus knot $T(2,2g+1)$. In particular, their signatures and four-genera are maximal and their homological monodromies (hence their Alexander module structures) agree. On the other hand, …

Is any positive knot the closure of a positive braid? No. But if we consider positivity in terms of the generators of the braid group due to Birman, Ko and Lee, then the answer is yes. In this paper we prove that the same occurs when considering homogeneity. In the way we prove that the plumbing of two surfaces is a BK…

Proves alternating quasipositive links are positive and strongly quasipositive.

We continue our study of the knot Floer homology invariants of cable knots. For large |n|, we prove that many of the filtered subcomplexes in the knot Floer homology filtration associated to the (p,pn+1) cable of a knot, K, are isomorphic to those of K. This result allows us to obtain information about the behavior of …

We define an invariant of transverse links in the standard contact 3-sphere as a distinguished element of the Khovanov homology of the link. The quantum grading of this invariant is the self-linking number of the link. For knots, this gives a bound on the self-linking number in terms of Rasmussen's invariant s(K). We p…

We give a short proof that if a non-trivial band sum of two knots results in a tight fibered knot, then the band sum is a connected sum. In particular, this means that any prime knot obtained by a non-trivial band sum is not tight fibered. Since a positive L-space knot is tight fibered, a non-trivial band sum never yie…

Study of panhandle polynomials of torus links with geometric applications.

Let S(D) be the surface produced by applying Seifert's algorithm to the oriented link diagram D. I prove that if D has no negative crossings then S(D) is a quasipositive Seifert surface, that is, S(D) embeds incompressibly on a fiber surface plumbed from positive Hopf annuli. This result, combined with the truth of the…

We show that every quasipositive link has a quasipositive minimal braid representative, partially resolving a question posed by Orevkov. These quasipositive minimal braids are used to show that the maximal self-linking number of a quasipositive link is bounded below by the negative of the minimal braid index, with equa…

Homogeneous quasipositive links are positive if their Seifert circles match braid index.

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 …

Study knot invariants to deduce Hopf invariant and propose a slope conjecture.

We prove that the connected sum of two links is quasipositive if and onlyif each summand is quasipositive. The prove is based on the filling disk technique