arXiv research

New method to untangle knots using null-homologous twists.

The unknotting number of a knot is the minimum number of crossings one must change to turn that knot into the unknot. We work with a generalization of unknotting number due to Mathieu-Domergue, which we call the untwisting number. The p-untwisting number is the minimum number (over all diagrams of a knot) of full twist…

The unknotting number of a knot is the minimum number of crossings one must change to turn that knot into the unknot. The algebraic unknotting number is the minimum number of crossing changes needed to transform a knot into an Alexander polynomial-one knot. We work with a generalization of unknotting number due to Math…

For $p\geq 1$ one can define a generalization of the unknotting number $tu_p$ called the $p$th untwisting number which counts the number of null-homologous twists on at most $2p$ strands required to convert the knot to the unknot. We show that for any $p\geq 2$ the difference between the consecutive untwisting numbers …

Jones polynomial bounds and crossing numbers of knots.

This paper classifies a specific weave type by their crossing number.

In this note we use Blanchfield forms to study knots that can be turned into an unknot using a single $\overline{t}_{2k}$ move.

We briefly review 3-dimensional untwisted Dijkgraaf-Witten theory over a finite group $Γ$, and present a method of computing untwisted Dijkgraaf-Witten invariants for arborescent links. Some explicit formulas are given when $Γ=\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\rtimes\mathbb{Z}/(p-1)\mathbb{Z}$ for an odd prime $p$.

Geometric model for a specific group in Artin groups.

Study shows orbits on a specific surface without intersecting geodesics.

New contractible complex shows virtual cohomological dimension of RAAGs.

Study subgroup actions on mapping class groups using Heisenberg representations.

We prove Nielsen realisation for finite subgroups of the groups of untwisted outer automorphisms of RAAGs in the following sense: given any graph $Γ$, and any finite group $G\leqslant \mathrm{U}^0(A_Γ) \leqslant \mathrm{Out}^0(A_Γ)$, we find a non-positively curved cube complex with fundamental group $A_Γ$ on which $G$…

We generalize the idea of unknotting knots to Seifert surfaces. We define an operation called ribbon twist which serves as the equivalent of a crossing change for knots. A Seifert surface is considered untwisted, the equivalent to unknotted, if it is isotopic to a standardly embedded n-fold punctured torus. A Seifert s…

Extending ideas of Hedden-Ni, we show that the module structure on Khovanov homology detects split links. We also prove an analogue for untwisted Heegaard Floer homology of the branched double cover. Technical results proved along the way include two interpretations of the module structure on untwisted Heegaard Floer h…

We prove that twisted correction terms in Heegaard Floer homology provide lower bounds on the Thurston norm of certain cohomology classes determined by the strong concordance class of a 2-component link $L$ in $S^3$. We then specialise this procedure to knots in $S^2\times S^1$, and obtain a lower bound on their geomet…

Using the Fiedler-Polyak-Viro Gauss diagram formulas we study the Vassiliev invariants of degree 2 and 3 on almost positive knots. As a consequence we show that the number of almost positive knots of given genus or unknotting number grows polynomially in the crossing number, and also recover and extend, inter alia to t…

Ozsvath and Szabo have defined a knot concordance invariant tau that bounds the 4-ball genus of a knot. Here we discuss shortcuts to its computation. We include examples of Alexander polynomial one knots for which the invariant is nontrivial, including all iterated untwisted positive doubles of knots with nonnegative T…

For a right-angled Artin group $A_Γ$, the untwisted outer automorphism group $U(A_Γ)$ is the subgroup of $Out(A_Γ)$ generated by all of the Laurence-Servatius generators except twists (where a {\em twist} is an automorphisms of the form $v\mapsto vw$ with $vw=wv$). We define a space $Σ_Γ$ on which $U(A_Γ)$ acts properl…

In this paper we study the knot Floer homology invariants of the twisted and untwisted Whitehead doubles of an arbitrary knot K. We present a formula for the filtered chain homotopy type of HFK(D(+,K,t)) in terms of the invariants for K, where D(+,K,t) denotes the t-twisted positive-clasped Whitehead double of K. In pa…

We show that the infinite cyclic cover of the exterior of the untwisted Whitehead double of a non-trivial knot does not embed in any compact 3-manifold, answering a question of Jiang, Ni, Wang and Zhou.

Study satellite operations on knot invariant θ, proving additivity and distinguishing knots.

We give an optimal upper bound for the first eigenvalue of the untwisted Dirac operator on a compact symmetric space G/H with rk G-rk H\le 1 with respect to arbitrary Riemannian metrics. We also prove a rigidity statement.

The Drinfeld - Sokolov construction associates a hierarchy of bihamiltonian integrable systems with every untwisted affine Lie algebra. We compute the complete set of invariants of the related bihamiltonian structures with respect to the group of Miura type transformations.

The operation of (untwisted) Whitehead doubling trivializes the Alexander module of a knot (and consequently, all known abelian invariants), and converts knots to topologically slice ones. In this note we show that Whitehead doubling does not trivialize the rational function that equals to the 2-loop part of the Kontse…

Recent work of M. Yoshinaga shows that in some instances certain higher homotopy groups of arrangements map onto non-resonant homology. This is in contrast to the usual Hurewicz map to untwisted homology, which is always the zero homomorphism in degree greater than one. In this work we examine this dichotomy, generaliz…

We consider Dirac operators on odd-dimensional compact spin manifolds which are twisted by a product bundle. We show that the space of connections on the twisting bundle which yield an invertible operator has infinitely many connected components if the untwisted Dirac operator is invertible and the dimension of the twi…

Paper untwists gauge fields, linking two bundles.

In this thesis we describe how to estimate the distance spanned in the pants graph by a train track splitting sequence on a surface, up to multiplicative and additive constants. If some moderate assumptions on a splitting sequence are satisfied, each vertex set of a train track in it will represent a vertex of a graph …

We prove that the signature bound for the topological 4-genus of 3-strand torus knots is sharp, using McCoy's twisting method. We also show that the bound is off by at most 1 for 4-strand and 6-strand torus knots, and improve the upper bound on the asymptotic ratio between the topological 4-genus and the Seifert genus …

Simplified 3D Dijkgraaf-Witten theory with defects explained geometrically.

Study of Dehn twists on a disc with 3 points, solving conjugacy problem.

We examine the relationship between the (untwisted) knot Floer cube of resolutions and HOMFLY-PT homology. By using a filtration induced by additional basepoints on the Heegaard diagram for a knot $K$, we see that the filtered complex decomposes as a direct sum of HOMFLY-PT homologies of various subdiagrams. Jaeger's c…

We prove that the higher harmonic signature of an even dimensional oriented Riemannian foliation of a compact Riemannian manifold with coefficients in a leafwise U(p,q)-flat complex bundle is a leafwise homotopy invariant. We also prove the leafwise homotopy invariance of the twisted higher Betti classes. Consequences …

We study topological open string amplitudes on orientifolds without fixed planes. We determine the contributions of the untwisted and twisted sectors as well as the BPS structure of the amplitudes. We illustrate our general results in various examples involving D-branes in toric orientifolds. We perform the computation…

New geometric spine for Artin groups defined by cube complexes.

We use Heegaard Floer homology with twisted coefficients to define numerical invariants for arbitrary closed 3-manifolds equipped torsion spin$^c$ structures, generalising the correction terms (or $d$--invariants) defined by Ozsváth and Szabó for integer homology 3-spheres and, more generally, for 3-manifolds with stan…

We show that if $V^3$ is a handlebody in $\R^3$, with curves $J_1, ..., J_g \subset \partial V$ which are the attaching curves for a Heegaard splitting of a homology sphere, then there exists a homeomorphism $h\colon V \to V$ so that each of the curves $h(J_i)$ bounds an orientable surface in $\R^3 - int(V)$. This lead…

Homology growth of specific mapping tori vanishes for certain groups.

Heat kernels are used in this paper to express the analytic index of projectively invariant Dirac type operators on G-covering spaces of compact manifolds, as elements in the K-theory of certain unconditional completions of the twisted group algebra of G. This is combined with V. Lafforgue's results in the untwisted ca…

We investigate representations of mapping class groups of surfaces that arise from the untwisted Drinfeld double of a finite group G, focusing on surfaces without marked points or with one marked point. We obtain concrete descriptions of such representations in terms of finite group data. This allows us to establish va…

Study Mazur doubles of knots and their relation to the Slope Conjecture.

We present an explicit expression for the topological invariants associated to $SU(2)$ monopoles in the fundamental representation on spin four-manifolds. The computation of these invariants is based on the analysis of their corresponding topological quantum field theory, and it turns out that they can be expressed in …

Akbulut has recently shown that an infinite family of Cappell-Shaneson homotopy 4-spheres is diffeomorphic to the standard 4-sphere. In the present paper, a strictly larger family is shown to be standard by a simpler method. This new approach uses no Kirby calculus except through the relatively simple 1979 paper of Akb…

Ozsvath and Szabo gave a combinatorial description of knot Floer homology based on a cube of resolutions, which uses maps with twisted coefficients. We study the t=1 specialization of their construction. The associated spectral sequence converges to knot Floer homology, and we conjecture that its E_1 page is isomorphic…

Ozsvath and Szabo defined an analog of the Froyshov invariant in the form of a correction term for the grading in Heegaard Floer homology. Applying this to the double cover of the 3-sphere branched over a knot K, we obtain an invariant delta of knot concordance. We show that delta is determined by the signature for alt…

The (untwisted) oriented cube of resolutions for knot Floer homology assigns a complex $C_{F}(S)$ to a singular resolution $S$ of a knot $K$. Manolescu conjectured that when $S$ is in braid position, the homology $H_{*}(C_{F}(S))$ is isomorphic to the HOMFLY-PT homology of $S$. Together with a naturality condition on t…

We study the effect of satellite operations on the Upsilon invariant of Ozsvath-Stipsicz-Szabo. We obtain results concerning when a knot and its satellites are independent; for example, we show that the set $\{D_{2^i,1}\}_{i=1}^\infty$ is a basis for an infinite rank summand of the group of smooth concordance classes o…