Intrinsically linked graphs and even linking number (Q2571389)

A graph is called intrinsically linked if all its embeddings into 3-dimensional Euclidean space contain a non-split link, i.e.\ for every embedding there are two disjoint cycles whose images cannot be separated. The starting point of this investigation was independent work from the early 1980's by Sachs and Conway-Gordon who showed that the complete graph on six vertices \(K_6\) is intrinsically linked. In the paper under review it is shown that the linking number of every embedding of \(K_{35}\) contains a non-split link whose linking number is divisible by three und that there is a constant \(\beta_r\) such that every embedding of \(K_{\beta_r}\) contains a non-split link whose linking number is divisible by \(2^r\). Similar results for links with more than two components are proved as well.