Small Seifert fibered surgery on hyperbolic pretzel knots (Q395753)

A Montesinos link of length \(n\) is a link formed by connecting \(n\) rational tangles to each other in a standard fashion. It is denoted by \(K[p_1/q_1,...,p_n/q_n]\). In the special case where the \(p_i = \pm 1\), such a knot is called a pretzel knot. By the positive solution of the geometrization conjecture by Perelman, any exceptional surgery on a hyperbolic knot is either reducible, toroidal, or a small Seifert fibered space. Exceptional surgeries on hyperbolic arborescent knots of length \(4\) or greater have been classified by \textit{Y.-Q. Wu} [Pac. J. Math. 252, No. 1, 219--243 (2011; Zbl 1233.57004)], as well as exceptional surgeries on hyperbolic \(2\)-bridge knots by \textit{M. Brittenham} and \textit{Y.-Q. Wu} [Commun. Anal. Geom. 9, No. 1, 97--113 (2001; Zbl 0964.57013)]. Also, it has been shown by Wu that no hyperbolic arborescent knot admits a reducible surgery [J. Differ. Geom. 43, No. 1, 171--197 (1996; Zbl 0851.57018)], and toroidal surgeries on hyperbolic arborescent knots of length three are completely classified also by \textit{Y.-Q. Wu} [Commun. Anal. Geom. 19, No. 2, 305--346 (2011; Zbl 1250.57018)]. Therefore, it only remained to understand small Seifert fibered surgeries on Montesinos knots of length three. According to [\textit{Y.-Q. Wu}, Commun. Anal. Geom. 20, No. 2, 397--434 (2012; Zbl 1271.57032), Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 365, No. 5, 2469--2488 (2013; Zbl 1275.57015)], the only hyperbolic Montesinos knots of length three that are pretzel knots and might admit Seifert fibered surgeries have the form \(P(q_1,q_2,q_3)\) or \(P(q_1,q_2,q_3,-1)\), where \((|q_1|,|q_2|,|q_3|) = (2, |q_2|, |q_3|), (3,3, |q_3|)\) or \((3, 4, 5)\) and in the length four case, then \(q_i > 0 \) for \(i=1, 2, 3\). It is also known that hyperbolic pretzel knots of the form \(P(p, q, q)\) with \(p,q\) positive [\textit{K. Ichihara} and \textit{I. D. Jong}, in: Geometry and topology down under. A conference in honour of Hyam Rubinstein, Melbourne, Australia, July 11--22, 2011. Proceedings. Hodgson, Craig D. (ed.) et al., Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). Contemporary Mathematics 597, 321--336 (2013; Zbl 1286.57016)] or \(P(-2, p, p)\) with \(p\) positive [\textit{K. Ichihara} et al., Topology Appl. 159, No. 4, 1064--1073 (2012; Zbl 1244.57015)] do not admit Seifert fibered surgeries. In the paper under review, the author completes the classification of hyperbolic pretzel knots admitting Seifert fibered surgeries. The main theorems are: 1) The hyperbolic pretzel knot \(P(-2, 2p+1, 2q+1)\), with certain conventions, admits a small Seifert fibered surgery if and only if \(p=1\). 2) Hyperbolic pretzel knots of the form \(P(3, 3, m)\) or \(P(3, 3, 2m, -1)\) admit no small Seifert fibered surgeries. Pretzel knots of the form \(P(3, -3, m) \), with \(m>1\), admit small Seifert fibered surgeries only for some values of \(m\) explicitly given. 3) The pretzel knots \(P(3, \pm4, \pm5)\) and \(P(3, 4, 5, -1)\) admit no small Seifert fibered surgeries. 4) If \(K\) is a non pretzel Montesinos knot and \(K(\alpha)\) is small Seifert fibered space, then either \(K=K[-1/2,2/5,1/(2q+1)]\) for some \(q\geq 5\), or \(K\) is in a list explicitly given. In order to prove the results, the author exploits the symmetries of the Montesinos knots in question to describe the surgery space as a branched double cover of a link. Next, he uses rational tangle filling theory and exceptional surgery bounds to restrict his attention to a finite list of such links. Finally, knot theory invariants are used to show that the branched double covers of links on this finite list cannot be Seifert fibered. Similar results were obtained by Wu, though using different techniques. Therefore, to complete the classification of exceptional surgeries on length 3 Montesinos knots, it only remains to check if the knots \(K=K[-1/2,2/5,1/(2q+1)]\) for some \(q\geq 5\) have exceptional surgeries. It has been recently announced by K. Ichihara and H. Masai that these knot have no exceptional surgery. Then, there is now a complete classification of exceptional surgeries on length 3 Montesinos knots.