Delta diagrams (Q2827429)

The main result of this paper is that every knot or link can be represented by a diagram on the 2-sphere such that every complementary region of the diagram has 3, 4, or 5 sides. The authors call such a diagram a delta diagram. They show that starting with a braid closure representation of a knot or link \(L\), one can, using a process called kinkification, obtain a delta diagram \(\Delta\) of \(L\). They further show that the number of crossings in \(\Delta\) is at most roughly \(c^4\) (plus some lower degree terms), where \(c\) is the (minimal) crossing number of \(L\).NEWLINENEWLINEThe authors comment that after they had completed this work, it was brought to their attention that it had previously been proven that every knot or link has a delta diagram [\textit{C. Adams} et al., Ann. Comb. 15, No. 4, 549--563 (2011; Zbl 1236.57011)]. They remark, however, that their proof is ``significantly different'' from that of Adams et al. [loc. cit.].