Satellites of Legendrian knots and representations of the Chekanov-Eliashberg algebra (Q357728)

The satellite construction in knot theory produces new knot types from a given knot \(K\) by considering the image of a solid torus knot \(L\subset S^1\times D^2\) inside a tubular neighborhood of \(K\). This construction provides a simple template for producing whole classes of knot invariants of \(K\) by simply applying existing invariants to the various satellites of \(K\). As a well-known example, when this scheme is applied to the Jones polynomial, the associated classes of satellite invariants are typically organized into a sequence of so-called colored Jones polynomials. This wider collection of invariants generalizes the Jones polynomial to a family of quantum \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\) invariants obtained by labeling \(K\) by an arbitrary irreducible representation. An analog of the satellite construction exists for Legendrian knots in \(\mathbb R^3\) with its standard contact structure. In this setting, a Legendrian satellite \(S(K,L)\subset\mathbb R^3\) arises from a Legendrian pattern \(L\subset J^1(S^1)\) and a Legendrian companion \(K\subset\mathbb R^3\), where \(J^1(S^1)=T^*S^1\times\mathbb R\) denotes the \(1\)-jet space of \(S^1\). In this paper, by using this Legendrian satellite operation, the authors show that there is a correspondence between two well-studied invariants of Legendrian knots: the Chekanov-Eliashberg differential graded algebra of the companion and the ruling polynomials of the satellite. They prove that if \(K\subset\mathbb R^3\) is a Legendrian knot, then the differential graded algebra \({\mathcal A}(K,*)\) admits a \(1\)-graded representation of dimension \(n\) if and only if the satellite of \(K\) with an \(n\)-stranded Legendrian full twist \(\text{tw}_n\) has a normal ruling.