The minimum number of Fox colors modulo 13 is 5 (Q729835): Difference between revisions

Fox \(p\)-coloring was first introduced as covering spaces of the branched double cover of knots for which it has homological \(p\)-torsion [\textit{K. Reidemeister}, Math. Z. 29, 713--729 (1929; JFM 55.0973.01); \textit{K. Perko}, Invent. Math. 34, 77--82 (1976; Zbl 0315.55006)] and later extended to consider the number of different colors needed for topologically identical covers [\textit{F. Harary} and \textit{L. H. Kauffman}, Adv. Appl. Math. 22, No. 3, 312--337 (1999; Zbl 1128.57301)] opening the door to an endless series of deep new invariants of knot type. This paper shows that every 13-coloring has ``an equivalent diagram which can be colored with 5 colors'' and that 5 is the minimum required. It also contains an excellent survey of prior results in this remarkable field.