Unknotting via null-homologous twists and multi-twists

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Allen, Samantha, Ince, Kenan, Kim, Seungwon, Ruppik, Benjamin Matthias, Turner, Hannah
Format: Preprint
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917730509127680
author Allen, Samantha
Ince, Kenan
Kim, Seungwon
Ruppik, Benjamin Matthias
Turner, Hannah
author_facet Allen, Samantha
Ince, Kenan
Kim, Seungwon
Ruppik, Benjamin Matthias
Turner, Hannah
contents The untwisting number of a knot K is the minimum number of null-homologous twists required to convert K to the unknot. Such a twist can be viewed as a generalization of a crossing change, since a classical crossing change can be effected by a null-homologous twist on 2 strands. While the unknotting number gives an upper bound on the smooth 4-genus, the untwisting number gives an upper bound on the topological 4-genus. The surgery description number, which allows multiple null-homologous twists in a single twisting region to count as one operation, lies between the topological 4-genus and the untwisting number. We show that the untwisting and surgery description numbers are different for infinitely many knots, though we also find that the untwisting number is at most twice the surgery description number plus 1.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2211_04621
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unknotting via null-homologous twists and multi-twists
Allen, Samantha
Ince, Kenan
Kim, Seungwon
Ruppik, Benjamin Matthias
Turner, Hannah
Geometric Topology
57K40, 57K10
The untwisting number of a knot K is the minimum number of null-homologous twists required to convert K to the unknot. Such a twist can be viewed as a generalization of a crossing change, since a classical crossing change can be effected by a null-homologous twist on 2 strands. While the unknotting number gives an upper bound on the smooth 4-genus, the untwisting number gives an upper bound on the topological 4-genus. The surgery description number, which allows multiple null-homologous twists in a single twisting region to count as one operation, lies between the topological 4-genus and the untwisting number. We show that the untwisting and surgery description numbers are different for infinitely many knots, though we also find that the untwisting number is at most twice the surgery description number plus 1.
title Unknotting via null-homologous twists and multi-twists
topic Geometric Topology
57K40, 57K10
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04621