Unknotting operations of polygonal type (Q1201463)

Take \(2n\) points \(A_ 1,A_ 2,\dots,A_{2n}\) on a circle \(S\) in a counter-clockwise order. Then join \(A_{2i-1}\) to \(A_{2i+2}\), \(i=1,2,\dots,n\), (\(i\) is taken \(\mod 2n\)) by an arc \(C_{2i-1}\) close to \(S\) so that \(C_{2i-1}\) intersects only \(C_{2i-3}\) and \(C_{2i+1}\), \(i=1,2,\dots,n\), where \(C_{2i-1}\) crosses under \(C_{2i-3}\), but it crosses over \(C_{2i+1}\). Let \(\Gamma_ n\) denote a circle \(S\) with these points \(A_ j\) and \(C_ j\). Let \(\Gamma'_ n\) be the circle obtained from \(\Gamma_ n\) by changing over-crossing to under-crossing (and vice versa) at each crossing. Now let \(D\) be a link diagram of a link \(L\). Suppose there is a circle \(S\) intersecting \(D\) at \(2n\) points such that the interior of \(S\) is \(\Gamma_ n\). An operation that replaces \(\Gamma_ n\) to \(\Gamma'_ n\) (or \(\Gamma'_ n\) to \(\Gamma_ n\)) is called the \(n\)-gon move denoted by \(T(n)\). A 2-gon move may be considered as an unknotting operation. A 3-gon move was introduced by Nakanishi. The author proves that for any integer \(n\geq 3\), every knot can be transformed into the trivial knot by applying \(T(n)\) finitely many times. Therefore, we can define the \(n\)-gon move unknotting number \(u_ n(K)\) as the minimum number of \(n\)-gon moves that are needed for \(K\) to transform it to a trivial knot. One of the interesting properties of \(u_ n(K)\) is: Any knot can be transformed into a trivial knot by applying \(T(n)\) only once, for some \(n\) (Theorem 2.5.).