Note on the Casson-Gordon invariant of a satellite knot

In this paper we establish a relation between an appropriate version of the Casson-Gordon invariant of a satellite knot and those of its orbit and companion. We note that in some cases the contribution from, the companion falls. This gives a way to construct algebraically but not smoothly slice knots. This article was processed by the author using theLaT_EX style filecljouri from Springer-Verlag.     

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.     

On flat braidzel surfaces for links

Rudolph introduced the notion of braidzel surfaces as a generalization of pretzel surfaces, and Nakamura showed that any oriented link has a braidzel surface. In this paper, we introduce the notion of flat braidzel surfaces as a special kind of braidzel surfaces, and show that any oriented link has a flat braidzel surface. We also introduce and study a new integral invariant of links, named the flat braidzel genus, with respect to their flat braidzel surfaces. Moreover, we give a way to calculate the number of components, the distance from proper links, the Arf invariant, and a Seifert matrix of a given link through the flat braidzel notation.     

Orders and actions of branched coverings of hyperbolic links

Let M, M^′ be compact oriented 3-manifolds and L^′ a link in M^′ whose exterior has positive Gromov norm. We prove that the topological types of M and (M^′,L^′) determine the degree of a strongly cyclic covering branched over L^′. Moreover, if M^′ is a homology sphere then these topological types determine also the covering up to conjugacy.     

Crosscap numbers of 2-bridge knots

We present a practical algorithm to determine the minimal genus of non-orientable spanning surfaces for 2-bridge knots, called the crosscap numbers. We will exhibit a table of crosscap numbers of 2-bridge knots up to 12 crossings (all 362 of them).     

Rational structure on algebraic tangles and closed incompressible surfaces in the complements of algebraically alternating knots and links

Let F be an incompressible, meridionally incompressible and not boundary-parallel surface with boundary in the complement of an algebraic tangle (B,T). Then F separates the strings of T in B and the boundary slope of F is uniquely determined by (B,T) and hence we can define the slope of the algebraic tangle. In addition to the Conway's tangle sum, we define a natural product of two tangles. The slopes and binary operation on algebraic tangles lead to an algebraic structure which is isomorphic to the rational numbers.We introduce a new knot and link class, algebraically alternating knots and links, roughly speaking which are constructed from alternating knots and links by replacing some crossings with algebraic tangles. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a closed surface to be incompressible and meridionally incompressible in the complement of an algebraically alternating knot or link K. In particular we show that if K is a knot, then the complement of K does not contain such a surface.     

Distinguishing links up to link-homotopy by algebraic methods

In this paper we provide a complete algebraic invariant of link-homotopy, that is, an algebraic invariant that distinguishes two links if and only if they are link-homotopic. The paper establishes a connection between the “peripheral structures” approach to link-homotopy taken by Milnor, Levine and others, and the string link action approach taken by Habegger and Lin.     

Hyperbolic isometries versus symmetries of links

We prove that every finite group is the orientation-preserving isometry group of the complement of a hyperbolic link in the 3-sphere.     

A generalized bridge number for links in 3-manifolds

Research partially supported under NSF grant DMS 8901065     

On the height of 2-component links

Let p be a prime and let L be a 2-component link in S³. We define a numerical invariant, called p-height of L, using a tower of successive p-fold branched cyclic coverings of L, and show, in particular, 2-height is algorithmically determined for any 2-component link. Some relationships between p-height and known link type invariants are also established.     

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.     

There exist infinitely many two component links which are 2-universal

We give a family of two component links which are 2-universal.     

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.     

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.     

The π1 of self-maps of nonzero degree on 3-manifolds

Supported by NSFC and AvH     

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.     

Embedding infinite cyclic covers of knot spaces into 3-space

We say a knot k in the 3-sphere S³ has PropertyIE if the infinite cyclic cover of the knot exterior embeds into S³. Clearly all fibred knots have Property IE.There are infinitely many non-fibred knots with Property IE and infinitely many non-fibred knots without property IE. Both kinds of examples are established here for the first time. Indeed we show that if a genus 1 non-fibred knot has Property IE, then its Alexander polynomial Δ_k(t) must be either 1 or 2t²−5t+2, and we give two infinite families of non-fibred genus 1 knots with Property IE and having Δ_k(t)=1 and 2t²−5t+2 respectively.Hence among genus 1 non-fibred knots, no alternating knot has Property IE, and there is only one knot with Property IE up to ten crossings.We also give an obstruction to embedding infinite cyclic covers of a compact 3-manifold into any compact 3-manifold.     

Toroidal and Klein bottle boundary slopes

Let M be a compact, connected, orientable, irreducible 3-manifold and T₀ an incompressible torus boundary component of M such that the pair (M,T₀) is not cabled. By a result of C. Gordon, if (S,∂S),(T,∂T)⊂(M,T₀) are incompressible punctured tori with boundary slopes at distance Δ=Δ(∂S,∂T), then Δ?8, and the cases where Δ=6,7,8 are very few and classified. We give a simplified proof of this result (or rather, of its reduction process), using an improved estimate for the maximum possible number of mutually parallel negative edges in the graphs of intersection of S and T. We also extend Gordon's result by allowing either S or T to be an essential Klein bottle.