Unknotted cycles (Q2088688)

Noting that cycle diagrams of permutations visually resemble grid diagrams used to depict knots and links in topology, the authors consider the knot (or link) obtained from the cycle diagram of a permutation. They show that the permutations which correspond in this way to an unknot are enumerated by the Schröder numbers and they enumerate the permutations corresponding to an unlink. The proof uses Bennequin's inequality.