Spindle-configurations of skew lines (Q2464818)

A skew configuration in \(\mathbb R^3\) is a finite set \(C\) of mutually skew lines. One wants to classify skew configurations up to isotopy, i.e., paths in the space of skew configurations joining two given configurations. The paper deals with the special case of spindles, i.e., skew configurations all of whose lines meet a given extra line, the axis \(A\). In this case, all information about the isotopy class is captured by a permutation \(\sigma_C\) of \(1, \dots ,n\) obtained by ordering the lines according to their intersection with \(A\) and comparing this to the order in which they are hit by a rotating plane which contains \(A\). The main result of the paper states that two spindles are isotopic if and only if the associated permutations are equivalent under the equivalence relation generated by the following operations: conjugation or one-sided multiplication by the \(n\)-cycle \((1,\dots,n)\), and, for permutations which leave some segment \(I \subseteq \{1,\dots ,n\}\) invariant, replacing the restriction of \(\sigma\) to \(I\) by its inverse or by its conjugate with respect to the reflection of \(I\) about its midpoint. This result proves a conjecture of \textit{H.~Crapo} and \textit{R.~Penne} [Adv.~Math.~103, No. 1, 1--106 (1994; Zbl 0802.51024)]. For the `if'-part, which was known, simplified proofs are given. The result is used to define an invariant, called spindlegenus, of isotopy classes of spindles, as the genus of the compact surface obtained by gluing two regular \(n\)-gons together according to the identification of oriented edges prescribed by a permutation \(\sigma\) associated with the class.