Strongly invertible knots have property R (Q1065430): Difference between revisions

A knot K in \(S^ 3\) is strongly invertible if there is a \(\pi\)-rotation of \(S^ 3\) that leaves K invariant and whose axis meets K in precisely two points. The author gives a short proof that K has property R (i.e. a \((0,\pm 1)\)-Dehn surgery on K yields \(S^ 1\times S^ 2\) only if K is the unknot) by using two different characterizations of the unknot: One due to Scharlemann states that K is the unknot if it can be changed in a single vignette into an unknot and unlink resp. The other due to Gordon and Thurston states that for a non-trivial knot only finitely many Dehn surgeries yield a homotopy sphere.