Middle tunnels by splitting (Q1940040)

This paper is one of a number by the authors studying unknotting tunnels for knots. Accordingly, they do not include complete background information in this paper, but instead direct readers to earlier papers such as [Geom. Topol. 13, No. 2, 769--815 (2009; Zbl 1191.57005)]. In addition, material from [Pac. J. Math. 258, No. 1, 51--89 (2012; Zbl 1248.57005)] is used in the final section. A knot in \(S^3\) has unknotting number \(1\) if there is a single simple arc with endpoints on the knot such that the complement of a neighbourhood of the knot and the arc is a handlebody. The arc is called an unknotting tunnel for the knot. This paper is focused on knots that have a \(1\)--bridge position with respect to a standardly embedded torus. These knots always have unknotting number \(1\). Two unknotting tunnels for such a knot, called the `upper' and `lower' tunnels, can be constructed directly from the \(1\)--bridge position. An unknotting tunnel that is not the upper tunnel or the lower tunnel is called a middle tunnel. The particular knots of interest in this paper are formed from an arc lying on each of two concentric standardly embedded tori in \(S^3\) together with two arcs running between these two tori. Given such a knot \(K\) and a middle tunnel for \(K\), the authors give a construction that produces a new such knot \(K'\) and a middle tunnel for \(K'\). The authors describe this as a `splitting' or `cabling' construction. This generalises an example previously studied by \textit{H. Goda} and \textit{C. Hayashi} [Kobe J. Math. 29, 45-84 (2012)] and \textit{K. Ishihara} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 11, No. 4, 2167--2190 (2011; Zbl 1232.57010)]. The construction may be done in four possible ways, given \(K\) and a middle tunnel, and performing different sequences usually leads to different knots. The main results of the paper give precise calculations of certain invariants of the objects in the construction, and from this they specify when certain knots can arise from the construction in different ways. This work is extended in [J. Math. Soc. Japan 65, 671--686 (2013)]. Note: in Figure 9a, the lower arc should be labelled \(\alpha(D^0)\) rather than \(\alpha(\sigma)\).