Virtually fibred Montesinos links of type \(\tilde {SL_2}\) (Q1014531)

Theorem: If a classic Montesinos link \(K\) has a cyclic rational tangle decomposition of the form \((q_1/p,\dots \, q_n/p)\) with \(p \geq 3\) odd, then \(K\) is virtually fibred. Here, virtually fibred means that the exterior has a finite cover which is a surface bundle over the circle. A link in the \(3\)-sphere is a classic Montesinos link if its double branched cover is a Seifert fibred manifold (total space of a circle bundle) such that no component of the branched set is a fibre. The proof of the above theorem relies on and generalizes the methods of \textit{I. Agol, S. Boyer} and \textit{X. Zhang} [J. Topol. 1, No.~4, 993--1018 (2008; Zbl 1168.57004)] for the special case that \(n\) is a multiple of \(p\). These results hopefully pave the way towards a proof of Thurston's famous virtually fibred conjecture.