Local moves for links with common sublinks (Q1947002)

A \(C_k\)-move is a certain local move performed on links in the 3-sphere that involves \(k+1\) strands of a link. It was introduced independently by \textit{K. Habiro} [Geom. Topol. 4, 1--83 (2000; Zbl 0941.57015)] and \textit{M. N. Gusarov} [St. Petersbg Math. J. 12, 569--604 (2001; Zbl 0981.57006)]. A \(C_1\)-move is just a crossing change. If all the \(k+1\) strands involved in a \(C_k\)-move belong to pairwise distinct components of the link, then it is called a \(C_k^d\)-move. The \(C_k^d\)-move generates an equivalence relation on links, called \(C_k^d\)-equivalence. The \(C_k^d\)-move has the property that it preserves \(k\)-component sublinks, that is, if two links are \(C_k^d\)-equivalent, then they have common \(k\)-component sublinks. Then it is natural to consider the question: if two links have \(k\)-component sublinks, are they then \(C_k^d\)-equivalent? This is the question addressed in the paper under review. The answer to the question is obviously affirmative for \(k=1\). In this paper a positive answer is given for some classes of links. For positive integers, \(k\) and \(n\), with \(k\leq n\), an \((n,k)\)-Brunnian link is an \(n\)-component link whose \(k\)-component sublinks are trivial. It is proved that a link is \((n,k)\)-Brunnian if and only if it is \(C_k^d\)-equivalent to the \(n\)-component trivial link. It is also shown that two links with trivial components have common 2-component sublinks if and only if they are \(C_2^d\)-equivalent. On the negative side, it is shown that for \(k\geq 3\), there exists a pair of links with trivial components, which have common \(k\)-component sublinks but are not \(C_k^d\)-equivalent. It is also shown that there exist two links with one nontrivial component, which have common 2-component sublinks and are not \(C_2^d\)-equivalent. The proofs use the theory of claspers for links, developed by K. Habiro [loc. cit.]. Applying results of \textit{K. Habiro} [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 142, 459--468 (2007; Zbl 1120.57005)], it is shown that for \(n>k\geq 2\), \((n,k)\)-Brunnian links and the \(n\)-component trivial link cannot be distinguished by any finite type invariant of order less than \(2k\).