Subspaces of knot spaces

The inclusion of the space of all knots of a prescribed writhe in a particular isotopy class into the space of all knots in that isotopy class is a weak homotopy equivalence.

     

Circular law for random matrices with exchangeable entries

An exchangeable random matrix is a random matrix with distribution invariant under any permutation of the entries. For such random matrices, we show, as the dimension tends to infinity, that the empirical spectral distribution tends to the uniform law on the unit disc. This is an instance of the universality phenomenon known as the circular law, for a model of random matrices with dependent entries, rows, and columns. It is also a non‐Hermitian counterpart of a result of Chatterjee on the semi‐circular law for random Hermitian matrices with exchangeable entries. The proof relies in particular on a reduction to a simpler model given by a random shuffle of a rigid deterministic matrix, on hermitization, and also on combinatorial concentration of measure and combinatorial Central Limit Theorem. A crucial step is a polynomial bound on the smallest singular value of exchangeable random matrices, which may be of independent interest. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 48, 454–479, 2016     

Structure of random 312‐avoiding permutations

We evaluate the probabilities of various events under the uniform distribution on the set of 312‐avoiding permutations of . We derive exact formulas for the probability that the i^th element of a random permutation is a specific value less than i, and for joint probabilities of two such events. In addition, we obtain asymptotic approximations to these probabilities for large N when the elements are not close to the boundaries or to each other. We also evaluate the probability that the graph of a random 312‐avoiding permutation has k specified decreasing points, and we show that for large N the points below the diagonal look like trajectories of a random walk. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 49, 599–631, 2016     

Legendrian Knots in Overtwisted Contact Structures on S3

We study the problem of classifying Legendrian knots in overtwisted contact structures on S ³. The question is whether topologically isotopic Legendrian knots have to be Legendrian isotopic if they have equal values of the well-known invariants rot and tb. We give positive answer in the case that there is an overtwisted disc intersecting none of the knots and we construct an example of a knot intersecting each overtwisted disc (this provides a counterexample to the conjecture of Eliashberg). Our proof needs some results on the structure of the group of contactomorphisms of S ³. We divide the subgroup Cont₊(S ³, ) of coorientation-preserving contactomorphisms for an overtwisted contact distribution into two classes.     

A product formula for the TASEP on a ring

For a random permutation sampled from the stationary distribution of the TASEP on a ring, we show that, conditioned on the event that the first entries are strictly larger than the last entries, the order of the first entries is independent of the order of the last entries. The proof uses multi‐line queues as defined by Ferrari and Martin, and the theorem has an enumerative combinatorial interpretation in that setting. Finally, we present a conjecture for the case where the small and large entries are not separated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 48, 247–259, 2016     

A strong uniform time for random transpositions

A random permutation ofN items generated by a sequence ofK random transpositions is considered. The method of strong uniform times is used to give an upper bound on the variation distance between the distributions of the random permutation generated and a uniformly distributed permutation. The strong uniform time is also used to find the asymptotic distribution of the number of fixed points of the generated permutation. This is used to give a lower bound on the same variation distance. Together these bounds give a striking demonstration of the threshold phenomenon in the convergence of rapidly mixing Markov chains to stationarity.     

Hyperbolic 3-manifolds as cyclic branched coverings

There is an extensive literature on the characterization of knots in the 3-sphere which have the same 3-manifold as a common n-fold cyclic branched covering, for some integer . In the present paper, we study the following more general situation. Given two integers m and n, how are knots K ₁ and K ₂ related such that the m-fold cyclic branched covering of K ₁ coincides with the n-fold cyclic branched covering of K ₂. Or, seen from the point of view of 3-manifolds: in how many different ways can a given 3-manifold occur as a cyclic branched covering of knots in S ³. Under certain hypotheses, we solve this problem for the basic class of hyperbolic 3-manifolds and hyperbolic knots (the other basic class is that of Seifert fiber spaces resp. of torus and Montesinos knots for which the situation is well understood; the general case can then be analyzed using the equivariant sphere and torus decomposition into Seifert fiber spaces and hyperbolic manifolds). Received: December 7, 1999; revised version: May 22, 2000     

An ideal way of obtaining an optimal inspection permutation for a system with components connected in series

The problem of an inspection permutation or inspection strategy (first discussed in a research paper in 1989 and reviewed in another research paper in 1991) is revisited. The problem deals with an N‐component system whose times to failure are independent but not identically distributed random variables. Each of the failure times follows an exponential distribution. The components in the system are connected in series such that the failure of at least one component entails the failure of the system. Upon system failure, the components are inspected one after another in a hierarchical way (called an inspection permutation) until the component causing the system to fail is identified. The inspection of each component is a process that takes a non‐negligible amount of time and is performed at a cost. Once the faulty component is identified, it is repaired at a cost, and the repair process takes some time. After the repair, the system is good as new and is put back in operation. The inspection permutation that results in the maximum long run average net income per unit of time (for the undiscounted case) or maximum total discounted net income per unit of time (for the discounted case) is called the optimal inspection permutation/strategy. A way of determining an optimal inspection permutation in an easier fashion, taking advantage of the improvements in computer software, is proffered. Mathematica is used to showcase how the method works with the aid of a numerical example. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hyperbolic knots spanning accidental Seifert surfaces of arbitrarily high genus

A method for constructing hyperbolic knots each of which bounds accidental incompressible Seifert surfaces of arbitrarily high genus is given. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000):57N10, 57M25.The author was supported in part by Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.     

Increasing permutations of random processes

The paper is concerned with an application of limit theorems to the study of increasing permutations of stable random processes. By the increasing permutation of a function is meant the nondecreasing function with the same distribution. The trajectories of a random process may be approximated by step-functions, and then the continuity of the increasing permutation operator permits one to apply the Skorokhod invariance principle to obtain the distribution of the random process. The distribution function and the expected value of the increasing permutation of a stable random process are given explicitly. Also the univariate distributions of the increasing permutation of the Cauchy process are obtained. In various normed spaces the images of the unit balls with respect to the operator of increasing permutation are described. A separate section is devoted to the increasing permutations of higher-dimensional processes. Bibliography: 5 titles. Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 216, 1994, pp. 62–75. Translated by A. Sudakov.     

Writhe polynomials and shell moves for virtual knots and links

The writhe polynomial is a fundamental invariant of an oriented virtual knot. We introduce a set of local moves for oriented virtual knots called shell moves. The first aim of this paper is to prove that two oriented virtual knots have the same writhe polynomial if and only if they are related by a finite sequence of shell moves. The second aim of this paper is to classify oriented 2-component virtual links up to shell moves by using several invariants of virtual links.     

Testing for no effect via splines

A spline-based test statistic for a constant mean function is proposed based on the penalized residual sum-of-squares difference between the null model and a B-spline model in which the regression function is approximated with P-splines approach. When the number of knots is fixed, the limiting null distribution of the test statistic is shown to be the distribution of a linear combination of independent chi-squared random variables, each with one degree of freedom. A smoothing parameter is selected by setting a specified value equal to the expected value of the test statistic under the null hypothesis. Simulation experiments are conducted to study the proposed spline-based test statistic’s finite-sample properties.     

Combinatorial knot contact homology and transverse knots

We give a combinatorial treatment of transverse homology, a new invariant of transverse knots that is an extension of knot contact homology. The theory comes in several flavors, including one that is an invariant of topological knots and produces a three-variable knot polynomial related to the A-polynomial. We provide a number of computations of transverse homology that demonstrate its effectiveness in distinguishing transverse knots, including knots that cannot be distinguished by the Heegaard Floer transverse invariants or other previous invariants.     

Fibonacci solitaire

Fibonacci Solitaire is a combinatorial algorithm which associates with a permutation of [n]={1,…,n} a partition of [n] into couples and singletons. We study the output configuration when the algorithm is applied to a random permutation, with emphasis on the large n‐asymptotics. We show that the set of singletons, properly scaled, resembles a familiar ‘stick‐breaking’ Poisson configuration, whereas the configuration of couples becomes close to uniform. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20, 71–88, 2002     

The Marčenko‐Pastur law for sparse random bipartite biregular graphs

We prove that the empirical spectral distribution of a (d_L, d_R)‐biregular, bipartite random graph, under certain conditions, converges to a symmetrization of the Mar?enko‐Pastur distribution of random matrix theory. This convergence is not only global (on fixed‐length intervals) but also local (on intervals of increasingly smaller length). Our method parallels the one used previously by Dumitriu and Pal (2012). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 48, 313–340, 2016     

Random walks on simplicial complexes and harmonics

In this paper, we introduce a class of random walks with absorbing states on simplicial complexes. Given a simplicial complex of dimension d, a random walk with an absorbing state is defined which relates to the spectrum of the k‐dimensional Laplacian for 1 ≤ k ≤ d. We study an example of random walks on simplicial complexes in the context of a semi‐supervised learning problem. Specifically, we consider a label propagation algorithm on oriented edges, which applies to a generalization of the partially labelled classification problem on graphs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 49, 379–405, 2016     

Large deviations and moments for the Euler characteristic of a random surface

We study random surfaces constructed by glueing together N/k filled k‐gons along their edges, with all (N ? 1)!! = (N ? 1)(N ? 3)···3 · 1 pairings of the edges being equally likely. (We assume that lcm{2,k} divides N.) The Euler characteristic of the resulting surface is related to the number of cycles in a certain random permutation of {1,…,N}. Gamburd has shown that when 2 lcm{2,k} divides N, the distribution of this random permutation converges to that of the uniform distribution on the alternating group A_N in the total‐variation distance as N → ∞. We obtain large‐deviations bounds for the number of cycles that, together with Gamburd's (Ann Probab 34 (2006), 1827–1848) result, allow us to derive sharp estimates for the moments of the number of cycles. These estimates allow us to confirm certain cases of conjectures made by Pippenger and Schleich (Random Struct Algorithm 28 (2006), 247–288). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2010     

Upper bound for the alternation number of a torus knot

We give an upper bound for the alternation number of a torus knot which is of either 3-, 4-, or 5-braid or of other special types. Using the inequality relating the alternation number, signature, and Rasmussen s-invariant, discovered by Abe, we determine the alternation numbers of the torus knots T(3,l), , and T(4,5). Also, for any positive integer k we construct infinitely many 3-braid knots with alternation number k.     

Application of computer algebra to Jones polynomials

In this paper we apply computer algebra (Maple) techniques to calculate Jones polynomial of graphs of K(2,q)-Torus knots. For this purpose, a computer program was developed. When a positive integer q is given, the program calculate Jones polynomial of graph of K(2,q)-Torus knots.     

On the crossing number of positive knots and braids and braid index criteria of Jones and Morton-Williams-Franks

We give examples of knots with some unusual properties of the crossing number of positive diagrams or strand number of positive braid representations. In particular, we show that positive braid knots may not have positive minimal (strand number) braid representations, giving a counterpart to results of Franks-Williams and Murasugi. Other examples answer questions of Cromwell on homogeneous and (partially) of Adams on almost alternating knots.

We give a counterexample to, and a corrected version of, a theorem of Jones on the Alexander polynomial of 4-braid knots. We also give an example of a knot on which all previously applied braid index criteria fail to estimate sharply (from below) the braid index. A relation between (generalizations of) such examples and a conjecture of Jones that a minimal braid representation has unique writhe is discussed.

Finally, we give a counterexample to Morton's conjecture relating the genus and degree of the skein polynomial.