Bridge number and tangle products (Q1948312)

The author introduces the concept of tangle product, a generalisation of the connected sum and the Conway product of links. The bridge number of a link is given by the minimal number of overcrossing arcs in a diagram for the link. Work of \textit{H. Schubert} [Math. Z. 61, 245--288 (1954; Zbl 0058.17403)] shows that, up to an additive constant, bridge number is additive under connected sum. In this paper, the author gives a sufficient condition for bridge number to be superadditive up to an additive error (a quadratic function in \(n\)) under \(n\)-strand tangle product. Earlier work of the author [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 10, No. 2, 789--823 (2010; Zbl 1200.57003)] gives a tighter result in the case of Conway product. The proofs make use of standard 3-manifold techniques with Morse functions.