Signature invariants related to the unknotting number (Q2306077)

Given a knot \(K \subset S^3\), the paper under review is concerned with lower bounds on the unknotting number \(u(K)\) that arise from the (averaged) Levine-Tristram signature function of \(K\). Here, the \(\textit{unknotting number}\) \(u(K)\) is the minimal number of crossing changes needed to convert \(K\) into the unknot. Given a Seifert matrix \(A\) for \(K\) and \(\omega \in S^1\), the \(\textit{Levine-Tristram signature}\) is defined as \[ s_K(\omega)=\operatorname{sign}\left((1-\omega)A+(1-\overline{\omega})A^T \right). \] This function is locally constant on \(S^1\) and jumps precisely at the roots of the Alexander polynomial \(\Delta_K(t)\) of \(K\). Writing \(\omega=e^{i\theta}\), the \(\textit{averaged Levine-Tristram signature}\) is defined as the average of the one-sided limits of \(s_K(\omega)\): \[ \sigma_K(\omega)=\frac{1}{2}\left( \lim_{\eta \to \theta_+}s_K(\eta)+\lim_{\eta \to \theta_-}s_K(\eta) \right). \] The (averaged) Levine-Tristram signature is known to give lower bounds on the unknotting number. In the article under review, the author refines some of these bounds using the \(\textit{jump function}\) \[ J_K(\omega)=\frac{1}{2}\left( \lim_{\eta \to \theta_+}\sigma_K(\eta)-\lim_{\eta \to \theta_-}s_K(\eta) \right). \] The main results, namely Theorem 1 and 2, respectively, use \(\sigma_K\) and \(J_K\) to provide lower bounds on \(u(K)\) and to give constraints on the number of signed crossing changes in an unknotting sequence for \(K\). In later sections of the paper, the author applies similar bounds to study the Gordian distance, the clasp number, and the four genus. The use of the jump function to give lower bounds on these invariants should be compared with the use of the \(\textit{nullity}\) \[ \eta_K(\omega):=\operatorname{null}(1-\omega)A+(1-\overline{\omega})A^T \] for similar purposes; see e.g. Theorem 4.1 of [\textit{M. Borodzik} and \textit{S. Friedl}, Algebr. Geom. Topol. 15, No. 1, 85--135 (2015; Zbl 1318.57009)] and references within.