On the classification of rational tangles (Q1883378)

Each rational tangle is associated in a canonical manner with a unique, reduced rational number or \(\infty\), called the fraction of the tangle. A deep result due to Conway classifies rational tangles by their fractions, namely two rational tangles are isotopic if and only if they have the same fraction. Proofs of this theorem used the definition of the fraction as an isotopy invariant of rational tangles. In this paper, the authors give two new direct combinatorial proofs of this classification theorem. The first one uses a direct definition of the fraction from the algebraic combinatorial structure of the rational tangle by means of a continued fraction expansion. It also makes use of the solution of the Tait conjecture concerning the classification of alternating knots. The second proof does not use the Tait conjecture and uses an alternate definition of the fraction of a rational tangle via integral coloring. The authors obtain by the same an elementary proof that alternating rational tangles have minimal number of crossings.