Transverse knots distinguished by knot Floer homology (Q1012402)

Consider \({\mathbb R}^3\) with its standard contact form \(\alpha=dz-y\,dx.\) A knot \(K\) in \({\mathbb R}^3\) is called Legendrian if the restriction of \(\alpha\) to \(K\) vanishes everywhere, and \(K\) is called transverse if the restriction of \(\alpha\) to \(K\) vanishes nowhere. Legendrian knots modulo Legendian isotopy have two classical invariants, the Thurston-Bennequin number tb and the rotation number r, and a knot type is called Legendrian simple if every Legendrian knot in its isotopy class is determined up to Legendrian isotopy by the classical invariants tb and r. Transverse knots modulo transverse isotopy have one classical invariant, the self-linking number sl, and a knot type is called transversely simple if every transverse knot in its isotopy class is determined up to transverse isotopy by the classical invariant sl. Some knots, including the unknot, torus knots, and the figure eight knot, are known to be Legendrian and transversely simple [see \textit{J. Etnyre} and \textit{K. Honda}, J. Symplectic Geom. 1 , No. 1, 63--120 (2001; Zbl 1037.57021)], whereas other knots, including the knot \(5_2\), can be seen not to be Legendrian simple [see \textit{Yu. Chekanov}, Invent. Math. 150, No. 3, 441--483 (2002; Zbl 1029.57011)]. Indeed, one can often use non-classical invariants like Legendrian contract homology to conclude that a given knot is not Legendrian simple as in [\textit{L. Ng}, Topology 42, 55--82 (2003; Zbl 1032.53070)]. The corresponding problem for transverse knots is considerably more difficult, and in the paper under review, the authors investigate knots that are not transversely simple. They show that the invariant \(\hat{\theta}\) of transverse knots defined in [\textit{P. Ozsváth, Z. Szabó} and \textit{D. Thurston}, Geom. Topol. 12 , No. 2, 941--980 (2008; Zbl 1144.57012)] is an effective tool for distinguishing pairs of transverse knots with the same topological type and sl. These ideas are applied to show that many different knots are not transversely simple, including the mirrors of \(10_{132}\) and \(12n_{200}\), the \((2,3)\) cable of the \((2,3)\)-torus knot, and the pretzel knots \(P(-4,-3,3)\) and \(P(-6,-3,3)\). The authors take a combinatorial approach to knot Floer homology using grid diagrams, and they compute the invariant \(\hat{\theta}\) of transverse knots using a C program that was developed for this purpose.