Differences of Alexander polynomials for knots caused by a single crossing change

Kondo and Sakai independently gave a characterization of Alexander polynomials for knots which are transformed into the trivial knot by a single crossing change. The first author gave a characterization of Alexander polynomials for knots which are transformed into the trefoil knot (and into the figure-eight knot) by a single crossing change. In this note, we will give a characterization of Alexander polynomials for knots which are transformed into the 10₁₃₂ knot (and into the (5,2)-torus knot) by a single crossing change. Moreover, this method can be applied for knots with monic Alexander polynomials.     

Intersection Alexander polynomials

By considering a (not necessarily locally-flat) PL knot as the singular locus of a PL stratified pseudomanifold, we can use intersection homology theory to define intersection Alexander polynomials, a generalization of the classical Alexander polynomial invariants for smooth or PL locally-flat knots. We show that the intersection Alexander polynomials satisfy certain duality and normalization conditions analogous to those of ordinary Alexander polynomials, and we explore the relationships between the intersection Alexander polynomials and certain generalizations of the classical Alexander polynomials that are defined for non-locally-flat knots. We also investigate the relations between the intersection Alexander polynomials of a knot and the intersection and classical Alexander polynomials of the link knots around the singular strata. To facilitate some of these investigations, we introduce spectral sequences for the computation of the intersection homology of certain stratified bundles.     

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.     

Fibred knots and twisted Alexander invariants

We study the twisted Alexander invariants of fibred knots. We establish necessary conditions on the twisted Alexander invariants for a knot to be fibred, and develop a practical method to compute the twisted Alexander invariants from the homotopy type of a monodromy. It is illustrated that the twisted Alexander invariants carry more information on fibredness than the classical Alexander invariants, even for knots with trivial Alexander polynomials.

     

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.     

Representations of Knot Groups and Twisted Alexander Polynomials

We present a twisted version of the Alexander polynomial associated with a matrix representation of the knot group. Examples of two knots with the same Alexander module but different twisted Alexander polynomials are given.     

Alexander polynomials of doubly primitive knots

We give a formula for Alexander polynomials of doubly primitive knots. This also gives a practical algorithm to determine the genus of any doubly primitive knot.

     

Nontrivial Alexander polynomials of knots and links

In this paper we present a sequence of link invariants, definedfrom twisted Alexander polynomials, and discuss their effectivenessin distinguishing knots. In particular, we recast and extendby geometric means a recent result of Silver and Williams onthe nontriviality of twisted Alexander polynomials for nontrivialknots. Furthermore we prove that these invariants decide ifa genus one knot is fibered. Finally we also show that theseinvariants distinguish all mutants with up to 12 crossings.     

The Thurston norm, fibered manifolds and twisted Alexander polynomials

Every element in the first cohomology group of a 3-manifold is dual to embedded surfaces. The Thurston norm measures the minimal ‘complexity’ of such surfaces. For instance the Thurston norm of a knot complement determines the genus of the knot in the 3-sphere. We show that the degrees of twisted Alexander polynomials give lower bounds on the Thurston norm, generalizing work of McMullen and Turaev. Our bounds attain their most concise form when interpreted as the degrees of the Reidemeister torsion of a certain twisted chain complex. We show that these lower bounds give the correct genus bounds for all knots with 12 crossings or less, including the Conway knot and the Kinoshita-Terasaka knot which have trivial Alexander polynomial.We also give obstructions to fibering 3-manifolds using twisted Alexander polynomials and detect all knots with 12 crossings or less that are not fibered. For some of these it was unknown whether or not they are fibered. Our work in particular extends the fibering obstructions of Cha to the case of closed manifolds.     

Primary decomposition and the fractal nature of knot concordance

For each sequence P=(p₁(t),p₂(t),...){\mathcal{P}=(p_1(t),p_2(t),\dots)} of polynomials we define a characteristic series of groups, called the derived series localized at P{\mathcal{P}}. These group series yield filtrations of the knot concordance group that refine the (n)-solvable filtration. We show that the quotients of successive terms of these refined filtrations have infinite rank. The new filtrations allow us to distinguish between knots whose classical Alexander polynomials are coprime and even to distinguish between knots with coprime higher-order Alexander polynomials. This provides evidence of higher-order analogues of the classical p(t)-primary decomposition of the algebraic concordance group. We use these techniques to give evidence that the set of smooth concordance classes of knots is a fractal set.     

Polynomial splittings of metabelian von Neumann rho-invariants of knots

We show that if the connected sum of two knots with coprime Alexander polynomials has vanishing von Neumann -invariants associated with certain metabelian representations, then so do both knots. As an application, we give a new example of an infinite family of knots which are linearly independent in the knot concordance group.

     

Some Examples Related to 4-Genera, Unknotting Numbers and Knot Polynomials

The paper gives examples of knots with equal knot polynomials,but distinct signatures, 4-genera, double branched cover homologygroups and unknotting numbers. This generalizes some examplesgiven by Lickorish and Millett. It is also shown that thereare knots with minimal (crossing number) diagrams of differentunknotting number (thus answering a question of Bleiler), andan alternative proof is given of Rudolph's result that thereare knots of 15n crossings with unit Alexander polynomial and4-genus or unknotting number n.     

On -extensions in characteristic

We study the relationship between generic polynomials and generic extensions over a finite ground field, using dihedral extensions as an example.

     

A -sampling theorem and product formula for continuous -Jacobi functions

In this paper we derive a q-analogue of the sampling theorem for Jacobi functions. We also establish a product formula for the nonterminating version of the q-Jacobi polynomials. The proof uses recent results in the theory of q-orthogonal polynomials and basic hypergeometric functions.

     

Symplectic , subgroup separability, and vanishing Thurston norm

Let be a closed, oriented -manifold. A folklore conjecture states that admits a symplectic structure if and only if admits a fibration over the circle. We will prove this conjecture in the case when is irreducible and its fundamental group satisfies appropriate subgroup separability conditions. This statement includes -manifolds with vanishing Thurston norm, graph manifolds and -manifolds with surface subgroup separability (a condition satisfied conjecturally by all hyperbolic -manifolds). Our result covers, in particular, the case of 0-framed surgeries along knots of genus one. The statement follows from the proof that twisted Alexander polynomials decide fiberability for all the -manifolds listed above. As a corollary, it follows that twisted Alexander polynomials decide if a knot of genus one is fibered.

     

On orthogonal collocation by the zeros of orthogonal 0-interpolants

The orthogonal collocation method is quite prominent among the collocation methods that determine approximate solutions of boundary value problems. This method involves Gaussian knots as collocation points and, in general, has fourth order convergence. Here, we discuss a similar method in which the knots are based on pre-assigned and free zeros of polynomials that arise in orthogonal 0-interpolants. Some numerical results demonstrate an advantage of the proposed collocation points over the Gaussian knots. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Strong coprimality and strong irreducibility of Alexander polynomials

A polynomial f(t) with rational coefficients is strongly irreducible if f(tk) is irreducible for all positive integers k. Likewise, two polynomials f and g are strongly coprime if f(tk) and g(tl) are relatively prime for all positive integers k and l. We provide some sufficient conditions for strong irreducibility and prove that the Alexander polynomials of twist knots are pairwise strongly coprime and that most of them are strongly irreducible. We apply these results to describe the structure of the subgroup of the rational knot concordance group generated by the twist knots and to provide an explicit set of knots which represent linearly independent elements deep in the solvable filtration of the knot concordance group.     

Quadratic harnesses, -commutations, and orthogonal martingale polynomials

We introduce the quadratic harness condition and show that integrable quadratic harnesses have orthogonal martingale polynomials with a three step recurrence that satisfies a -commutation relation. This implies that quadratic harnesses are essentially determined uniquely by five numerical constants. Explicit recurrences for the orthogonal martingale polynomials are derived in several cases of interest.

     

A van der Corput lemma for the -adic numbers

We prove a version of van der Corput's lemma for polynomials over the -adic numbers.

     

Nearly monotone spline approximation in

It is shown that the rate of -approximation of a non-decreasing function in , , by ``nearly non-decreasing" splines can be estimated in terms of the third classical modulus of smoothness (for uniformly spaced knots) and third Ditzian-Totik modulus (for Chebyshev knots), and that estimates in terms of higher moduli are impossible. It is known that these estimates are no longer true for ``purely" monotone spline approximation, and properties of intervals where the monotonicity restriction can be relaxed in order to achieve better approximation rate are investigated.