Asymptotic behavior of unknotting numbers of links in a twist family

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Baker, Kenneth L., Miyazawa, Yasuyuki, Motegi, Kimihiko
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Baker, Kenneth L.
Miyazawa, Yasuyuki
Motegi, Kimihiko
author_facet Baker, Kenneth L.
Miyazawa, Yasuyuki
Motegi, Kimihiko
contents By twisting a given link $L$ along an unknotted circle $c$, we obtain an infinite family of links $\{ L_n \}$. We introduce the ``stable unknotting number'' which describes the asymptotic behavior of unknotting numbers of links in the twist family. We show the stable unknotting number for any twist family of links depends only on the winding number of $L$ about $c$ (the minimum geometric intersection number of $L$ with a Seifert surface of $c$) and is independent of the wrapping number of $L$ about $c$ (the minimum geometric intersection number of $L$ with a disk bounded by $c$). Thus there are twist families for which the discrepancy between the wrapping number and the stable unknotting number is arbitrarily large.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_03867
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Asymptotic behavior of unknotting numbers of links in a twist family
Baker, Kenneth L.
Miyazawa, Yasuyuki
Motegi, Kimihiko
Geometric Topology
57K10, 57K14, 57K16
By twisting a given link $L$ along an unknotted circle $c$, we obtain an infinite family of links $\{ L_n \}$. We introduce the ``stable unknotting number'' which describes the asymptotic behavior of unknotting numbers of links in the twist family. We show the stable unknotting number for any twist family of links depends only on the winding number of $L$ about $c$ (the minimum geometric intersection number of $L$ with a Seifert surface of $c$) and is independent of the wrapping number of $L$ about $c$ (the minimum geometric intersection number of $L$ with a disk bounded by $c$). Thus there are twist families for which the discrepancy between the wrapping number and the stable unknotting number is arbitrarily large.
title Asymptotic behavior of unknotting numbers of links in a twist family
topic Geometric Topology
57K10, 57K14, 57K16
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03867