Finite type invariants of nanowords and nanophrases

Homotopy classes of nanowords and nanophrases are combinatorial generalizations of virtual knots and links. Goussarov, Polyak and Viro defined finite type invariants for virtual knots and links via semi-virtual crossings. We extend their definition to nanowords and nanophrases. We study finite type invariants of low degrees. In particular, we show that the linking matrix and T invariant defined by Fukunaga are finite type of degree 1 and degree 2 respectively. We also give a finite type invariant of degree 4 for open homotopy of Gauss words.     

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.     

Double braidings, twists and tangle invariants

A tortile (or ribbon) category defines invariants of ribbon (framed) links and tangles. We observe that these invariants, when restricted to links, string links, and more general tangles which we call turbans, do not actually depend on the braiding of the tortile category. Besides duality, the only pertinent data for such tangles are the double braiding and twist. We introduce the general notions of twine, which is meant to play the rôle of the double braiding (in the absence of a braiding), and the corresponding notion of twist. We show that the category of (ribbon) pure braids is the free category with a twine (a twist). We show that a category with duals and a self-dual twist defines invariants of stringlinks. We introduce the notion of turban category, so that the category of turban tangles is the free turban category. Lastly we give a few examples and a tannaka dictionary for twines and twists.     

Stationary Gromov–Witten Invariants of Projective Spaces

We represent stationary descendant Gromov–Witten invariants of projective space, up to explicit combinatorial factors, by polynomials. One application gives the asymptotic behaviour of the large degree behaviour of stationary descendant Gromov–Witten invariants in terms of intersection numbers over the moduli space of curves. We also show that primary Gromov–Witten invariants are"virtual" stationary descendants and hence the string and divisor equations can be understood purely in terms of stationary invariants.     

On Invariants of Virtual Links

We propose a new method of generalizing classical link invariants for the case of virtual links. In particular, we have generalized the knot quandle, the knot fundamental group, the Alexander module, and the coloring invariants. The virtual Alexander module leads to a definition of VA-polynomial that has no analogue in the classical case (i.e. vanishes on classical links).     

Goussarov-Habiro theory for string links and the Milnor-Johnson correspondence

We study the Goussarov-Habiro finite type invariants theory for framed string links in homology balls. Their degree 1 invariants are computed: they are given by Milnor's triple linking numbers, the mod 2 reduction of the Sato-Levine invariant, Arf and Rochlin's μ invariant. These invariants are seen to be naturally related to invariants of homology cylinders through the Milnor-Johnson correspondence: in particular, an analogue of the Birman-Craggs homomorphism for string links is computed. The relation with Vassiliev theory is studied.     

Generalizations of the Wada representations and virtual link groups

We extend the Wada representations of the classical braid group to the virtual and welded braid groups. Using the resulting representations, we construct the groups of virtual links and prove that they are link invariants. We give some examples of calculating the groups of torus (virtual) links.     

Virtual neighborhood technique for moduli spaces of holomorphic curves

We use the technique of Ruan (1999) and Li and Ruan (2001) to construct the virtual neighborhoods and show that the Gromov-Witten invariants can be defined as integrals over the top strata of the virtual neighborhoods. We prove that the invariants defined in this way satisfy all the axioms of Gromov-Witten invariants summarized by Kontsevich and Manin (1994).

     

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.     

Vassiliev invariants of type one for links in the solid torus

In Bataineh (2003) [2] we studied the type one invariants for knots in the solid torus. In this research we study the type one invariants for n-component links in the solid torus by generalizing Aicardi's invariant for knots in the solid torus to n-component links in the solid torus. We show that the generalized Aicardi's invariant is the universal type one invariant, and we show that the generalized Aicardi's invariant restricted to n-component links in the solid torus with zero winding number for each component is equal to an invariant we define using the universal cover of the solid torus. We also define and study a geometric invariant for n-component links in the solid torus. We give a lower bound on this invariant using the type one invariants, which are easy to calculate, which helps in computing this geometric invariant, which is usually hard to calculate.     

Signature invariants of covering links

We apply the theory of signature invariants of links in rational homology spheres to covering links of homology boundary links. From patterns and Seifert matrices of homology boundary links, we derive an explicit formula to compute signature invariants of their covering links. Using the formula, we produce fused boundary links that are positive mutants of ribbon links but are not concordant to boundary links. We also show that for any finite collection of patterns, there are homology boundary links that are not concordant to any homology boundary links admitting a pattern in the collection.

     

On homotopy groups of quandle spaces and the quandle homotopy invariant of links

For a quandle X, the quandle space BX is defined, modifying the rack space of Fenn, Rourke and Sanderson (1995) [13], and the quandle homotopy invariant of links is defined in Z[π₂(BX)], modifying the rack homotopy invariant of Fenn, Rourke and Sanderson (1995) [13]. It is known that the cocycle invariants introduced in Carter et al. (2005) [3], Carter et al. (2003) [5], Carter et al. (2001) [6] can be derived from the quandle homotopy invariant.In this paper, we show that, for a finite quandle X, π₂(BX) is finitely generated, and that, for a connected finite quandle X, π₂(BX) is finite. It follows that the space spanned by cocycle invariants for a finite quandle is finitely generated. Further, we calculate π₂(BX) for some concrete quandles. From the calculation, all cocycle invariants for those quandles are concretely presented. Moreover, we show formulas of the quandle homotopy invariant for connected sum of knots and for the mirror image of links.     

Baer Invariants and Cohomology of Precrossed Modules

In this paper we study Baer invariants of precrossed modules relative to the subcategory of crossed modules, following Fröhlich and Furtado-Coelho’s general theory on Baer invariants in varieties of Ω-groups and Modi’s theory on higher dimensional Baer invariants. Several homological invariants of precrossed and crossed modules were defined in the last two decades. We show how to use Baer invariants in order to connect these various homology theories. First, we express the low-dimensional Baer invariants of precrossed modules in terms of a new non-abelian tensor product of a precrossed module. This expression is used to analyze the connection between the Baer invariants and the homological invariants of precrossed modules defined by Conduché and Ellis. Specifically we prove that the second homological invariant of Conduché and Ellis is in general a quotient of the first component of the Baer invariant we consider. The definition of classical Baer invariants is generalized using homological methods. These generalized Baer invariants of precrossed modules are applied to the construction of five term exact sequences connecting the generalized Baer invariants with the cohomology theory of crossed modules considered by Carrasco, Cegarra and R.-Grandjeán and the cohomology theory of precrossed modules.     

Link polynomials derived from magnetic graphs

We introduce a graph diagram which can be regarded as a generalized link diagram. By using it, we construct two polynomial invariants for knots and links which are distinct from both the HOMFLY and the Kauffman polynomials. We show some features of the polynomials including relationships with the HOMFLY and the Kauffman polynomials.     

On the identification and stability of formal invariants for singular differential equations

Given a system of linear differential equations near an irregular singularity of pole type, formal invariants are quantities that remain unchanged with respect to linear transformations of the system. While certain “natural” formal invariants can easily be observed in formal fundamental solution matrices, the algorithms for constructing them do not readily show how the invariants can be universally described as properties of the coefficient matrix of the system, and in particular of the individual constant matrices in the power-series expansion. Other invariants have been abstractly defined by mapping properties of the differential operator, but they are not immediately related to either the natural invariants or the coefficients. In this paper we show how certain invariants in the formal solution may be described and calculated through matrix-theoretic properties of the coefficients and at the same time show how they are related to ones for the differential operator.     

On the existence of real R-matrices for virtual link invariants

We characterize the virtual link invariants that can be described as partition function of a real-valued R-matrix, by being weakly reflection positive. Weak reflection positivity is defined in terms of joining virtual link diagrams, which is a specialization of joining virtual link diagram tangles. Basic techniques are the first fundamental theorem of invariant theory, the Hanlon–Wales theorem on the decomposition of Brauer algebras, and the Procesi–Schwarz theorem on inequalities for closed orbits.     

Isotopy invariants for smooth tori in 4-manifolds

In this paper we define invariants under smooth isotopy for certain two-dimensional knots using some refined Cerf theory. One of the invariants is the knot type of some classical knot generalizing the string number of closed braids. The other invariant is a generalization of the unique invariant of degree 1 for classical knots in 3-manifolds. Possibly, these invariants can be used to distinguish smooth embeddings of tori in some 4-manifolds but which are equivalent as topological embeddings.     

Poincaré series of Klein groups,coxeter polynomials,the Burau representation,and Milnor invariants

We obtain several formulas for the Poincaré series defined by B. Kostant for Klein groups (binary polyhedral groups) and some formulas for Coxeter polynomials (characteristic polynomials of monodromy in the case of singularities). Some of these formulas—the generalized Ebeling formula, the Christoffel-Darboux identity, and the combinatorial formula—are corollaries to the well-known statements on the characteristic polynomial of a graph and are analogous to formulas for orthogonal polynomials. The ratios of Poincaré series and Coxeter polynomials are represented in terms of branched continued fractions, which are q-analogs of continued fractions that arise in the theory of resolution of singularities and in the Kirby calculus. Other formulas connect the ratios of some Poincaré series and Coxeter polynomials with the Burau representation and Milnor invariants of string links. The results obtained by S.M. Gusein-Zade, F. Delgado, and A. Campillo allow one to consider these facts as statements on the Poincaré series of the rings of functions on the singularities of curves, which suggests the following conjecture: the ratio of the Poincaré series of the rings of functions for close (in the sense of adjacency or position in a series) singularities of curves is determined by the Burau representation or by the Milnor invariants of a string link, which is an intermediate object in the transformation of the knot of one singularity into the knot of the other.     

Knot theory for self-indexed graphs

We introduce and study so-called self-indexed graphs. These are (oriented) finite graphs endowed with a map from the set of edges to the set of vertices. Such graphs naturally arise from classical knot and link diagrams. In fact, the graphs resulting from link diagrams have an additional structure, an integral flow. We call a self-indexed graph with integral flow a comte. The analogy with links allows us to define transformations of comtes generalizing the Reidemeister moves on link diagrams. We show that many invariants of links can be generalized to comtes, most notably the linking number, the Alexander polynomials, the link group, etc. We also discuss finite type invariants and quandle cocycle invariants of comtes.