Computing the Conway polynomial of several closures of oriented 3-braids

This paper deals with polynomial invariants of a class of oriented 3-string tangles and the knots (or links) obtained by applying six different closures. In Cabrera-Ibarra (2004) [1], expressions were given to compute the Conway polynomials of four different closures of the composition of two such 3-string tangles. By using the expressions and results from that reference, and using an algorithm developed on the basis of Giller?s calculations for 3-string tangles, we provide new results concerning six closures of 3-braids. Surprisingly, for 3-braids two of the closures turn out to be affine functions of the four previously defined. Among the contributions in this paper one finds computational tools to obtain the Conway polynomial of closures of 3-braids in terms of continuous fractions and their expansions. An interesting feature is that our calculations yield explicit, nonrecursive formulas in the case of 3-braids, thereby considerably lowering the time required to compute them. As a byproduct, explicit expressions are also given to obtain both numerators and denominators of continuous fractions in a nonrecursive way.     

On the Alexander polynomials of knots with Gordian distance one

We consider a condition on a pair of the Alexander polynomials of knots which are realizable by a pair of knots with Gordian distance one. We show that there are infinitely many mutually disjoint infinite subsets in the set of the Alexander polynomials of knots such that every pair of distinct elements in each subset is not realizable by any pair of knots with Gordian distance one. As one of the subsets, we have an infinite set containing the Alexander polynomials of the trefoil knot and the figure eight knot. We also show that every pair of distinct Alexander polynomials such that one is the Alexander polynomial of a slice knot is realizable by a pair of knots of Gordian distance one, so that every pair of distinct elements in the infinite subset consisting of the Alexander polynomials of slice knots is realizable by a pair of knots with Gordian distance one. These results solve problems given by Y. Nakanishi and by I. Jong.     

On virtual pathwidth of virtual graphs of a virtual link

The geometric representation of a knot is not too dissimilar from a graph and this interaction has helped mathematicians to solve many problems. In this paper, we apply graph theory tools to study the classification of virtual knots and links. We define virtual planar graphs and compute virtual path width of an associated graph of a virtual link. We show that the virtual path width of an associated graph is equal to the virtual bridge number of a pseudo prime knot.     

Alexander polynomials of alternating knots of genus two III

In the previous paper, the author gave linear inequalities on the coefficients of the Alexander polynomials of alternating knots of genus two, which are best possible as linear inequalities on the coefficients of them. In this paper, we give infinitely many Alexander polynomials which satisfy the linear inequalities, but they are not realized by alternating knots.     

Jones polynomial of knots formed by repeated tangle replacement operations

In this paper, we prove that the Jones polynomial of a link diagram obtained through repeated tangle replacement operations can be computed by a sequence of suitable variable substitutions in simpler polynomials. For the case that all the tangles involved in the construction of the link diagram have at most k crossings (where k is a constant independent of the total number n of crossings in the link diagram), we show that the computation time needed to calculate the Jones polynomial of the link diagram is bounded above by O(nk). In particular, we show that the Jones polynomial of any Conway algebraic link diagram with n crossings can be computed in O(n²) time. A consequence of this result is that the Jones polynomial of any Montesinos link and two bridge knot or link of n crossings can be computed in O(n²) time.     

A spanning tree cohomology theory for links

In their recent preprint, Baldwin, Ozsváth and Szabó defined a twisted version (with coefficients in a Novikov ring) of a spectral sequence, previously defined by Ozsváth and Szabó, from Khovanov homology to Heegaard–Floer homology of the branched double cover along a link. In their preprint, they give a combinatorial interpretation of the _E3$E_3$-term of their spectral sequence. The main purpose of the present paper is to prove directly that this _E3$E_3$-term is a link invariant. We also give some concrete examples of computation of the invariant.     

On the asymptotic expansion of the colored Jones polynomial for torus knots

In the asymptotic expansion of the hyperbolic specification of the colored Jones polynomial of torus knots, we identify different geometric contributions, in particular Chern–Simons invariant and twisted Reidemeister torsion with coefficients in the adjoint representation. This work is supported in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the first author (J. Dubois) is also supported by the European Community with Marie Curie Intra–European Fellowship (MEIF–CT–2006–025316). While writing the paper, J. Dubois visited the CRM. He thanks the CRM for its hospitality.     

An endomorphism of the Khovanov invariant

We construct an endomorphism of the Khovanov invariant to prove H-thinness and pairing phenomena of the invariants for alternating links. As a consequence, it follows that the Khovanov invariant of an oriented nonsplit alternating link is determined by its Jones polynomial, signature, and the linking numbers of its components.     

A version of the volume conjecture

We propose a version of the volume conjecture that would relate a certain limit of the colored Jones polynomials of a knot to the volume function defined by a representation of the fundamental group of the knot complement to the special linear group of degree two over complex numbers. We also confirm the conjecture for the figure-eight knot and torus knots. This version is different from S. Gukov's because of a choice of polarization.     

Boundary slopes and the logarithmic limit set

The A-polynomial of a manifold whose boundary consists of a single torus is generalised to an eigenvalue variety of a manifold whose boundary consists of a finite number of tori, and the set of strongly detected boundary curves is determined by Bergman's logarithmic limit set, which describes the exponential behaviour of the eigenvalue variety at infinity. This enables one to read off the detected boundary curves of a multi-cusped manifold in a similar way to the 1-cusped case, where the slopes are encoded in the Newton polygon of the A-polynomial.     

On minimal elements for a partial order of prime knots

In this paper, applying Chebyshev polynomials we give a basic proof of the irreducibility over the complex number field of the defining polynomial of SL₂(C)-character variety of twist knots in infinitely many cases. The irreducibility, combined with a result in the paper of M. Boileau, S. Boyer, A.W. Reid and S. Wang in 2010, shows the minimality of infinitely many twist knots for a partial order on the set of prime knots defined by using surjective group homomorphisms between knot groups. In Appendix B, we also give a straightforward proof of the result of Boileau et al.     

q-holonomic formulas for colored HOMFLY polynomials of 2-bridge links

We compute q-holonomic formulas for the HOMFLY polynomials of 2-bridge links colored with one-column (or one-row) Young diagrams.     

Twisted Alexander polynomials of twist knots for nonabelian representations

In this paper, we describe the twisted Alexander polynomial of twist knots for nonabelian SL(2,C)-representations and investigate in detail the coefficient of the highest degree term as a function on the representation space of the knot group. In particular, we introduce the notion of monic representation and discuss its relation to the fiberedness of knots.     

Colored Turaev-Viro invariants of twist knots

In the present paper we give a formula for colored Turaev-Viro invariants of twist knots using special polyhedra derived from (1,1)-decomposition of the knots.     

Vassiliev invariants and the Poincaré conjecture

This article examines the relationship between 3-manifold topology and knot invariants of finite type. We prove that in every Whitehead manifold there exist knots that cannot be distinguished by Vassiliev invariants. If, on the other hand, Vassiliev invariants distinguish knots in each homotopy sphere, then the Poincaré conjecture is true (i.e. every homotopy 3-sphere is homeomorphic to the standard 3-sphere).     

Polynomial invariants and quandles of twisted links

Bourgoin defined the notion of a twisted link which corresponds to a stable equivalence class of links in oriented thickenings. It is a generalization of a virtual link. Some invariants of virtual links are extended for twisted links including the knot group and the Jones polynomial. In this paper, we generalize a multivariable polynomial invariant of a virtual link to a twisted link. We also introduce a quandle of a twisted link.     

The LMO-invariant of 3-manifolds of rank one and the Alexander polynomial

We prove that the LMO-invariant of a 3-manifold of rank one is determined by the Alexander polynomial of the manifold, and conversely, that the Alexander polynomial is determined by the LMO-invariant. Furthermore, we show that the Alexander polynomial of a null-homologous knot in a rational homology 3-sphere can be obtained by composing the weight system of the Alexander polynomial with the ?rhus invariant of knots. Received February 14, 2000 / Published online October 11, 2000     

Reidemeister torsion and lens surgeries on knots in homology 3-spheres II

We introduce the norm and the order of a polynomial and of a homology lens space. We calculate the norm of the cyclotomic polynomials, and apply it to lens surgery problem for a knot whose Alexander polynomial is the same as an iterated torus knot.     

On some classes of hyperbolic knots with the 3-sphere surgery

For the distance of (1,1)-splittings of a knot in a closed orientable 3-manifold, it is an important problem whether a (1,1)-knot can admit (1,1)-splittings of different distances. In this paper, we give one-parameter families of hyperbolic (1,1)-knots such that each (1,1)-knot admits a Dehn surgery yielding the 3-sphere. It is remarkable that such knots are the first concrete examples each of whose (1,1)-splittings is of distance three.     

Some relations on Miyazawa's virtual knot invariant

Y. Miyazawa defined a polynomial invariant for a virtual link by using magnetic graph diagrams, which is related with the Jones-Kauffman polynomial. In this paper we show some relations of this polynomial for a virtual skein triple.