Blanchfield forms and Gordian distance (Q329657)

For oriented ordered links \(L\) and \(J\) in the \(3\)-sphere, the Gordian distance \(g(L,J)\) between them is the minimal number of crossing changes required to turn \(L\) into \(J\), and the \(4\)-dimensional clasp number \(c(L,J)\) is the minimal number of double points of an immersed concordance between them. The main purpose of the paper under review is to give lower bounds on these invariants from the Alexander modules and the Blanchfield pairings. The first result claims that the difference between the ranks of the Alexander modules of \(L\) and \(J\) is a lower bound for \(c(L,J)\), and if equality holds, then the Witt sum of the Blanchfield forms of the links is metabolic and there is a specified relation between their torsion Alexander polynomials. The first part of the result has been shown independently by \textit{A. Kawauchi} [Bol. Soc. Mat. Mex., III. Ser. 20, No. 2, 559--578 (2014; Zbl 1315.57012)]. A similar claim is also proved for the Gordian distance. The final part contains observations for unlinking numbers, splitting numbers, and weak splitting numbers. In particular, the authors give a two component link \(L\) with unknotted components for a given constant \(c\) such that for any single crossing change turning \(L\) into a split link, the resulting split link has a knotted component with crossing number at least \(c\). This gives a positive answer for crossing number to a question by \textit{C. Adams} [J. Knot Theory Ramifications 5, No. 3, 295--299 (1996; Zbl 0858.57007)].