Homogeneous links and the Seifert matrix (Q429105)

This paper concerns the Seifert matrix associated with the projection surface for a homogeneous link. Here, the projection surface is the Seifert surface obtained by applying the Seifert algorithm to a diagram of the link. Homogeneous links were introduced by \textit{P. R. Cromwell} [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 39, No. 3, 535--552 (1989; Zbl 0685.57004)] and are defined to be links which have a homogeneous diagram. A diagram is homogeneous if in each block of its Seifert graph all the edges have the same sign, where a block of a graph is a maximal subgraph which has no cut-vertex. Alternating links and positive links are homogeneous. The main theorem asserts that for a connected diagram of an oriented link there is a basis for the first homology group of the projection surface with which the Seifert matrix is expressed as a lower block triangular form. The basis is divided into groups corresponding to the decomposition of the Seifert graph into blocks. Precisely, let \(G\) denote the Seifert graph and let \(G=B_{1}\cup\dots\cup B_{k}\) be the decomposition of \(G\) into blocks. Then if \(M_{i}\) is the Seifert matrix that corresponds to any basis of \(H_{1}(B_{i})\) the Seifert matrix takes the form that the \(M_{i}\)'s line in the diagonal by reordering the \(B_{i}\)'s appropriately and every entry above the block-diagonal is zero. Applying the main theorem to homogeneous links the author gives an alternative proof of the theorem of Cromwell, which asserts that for a connected homogeneous diagram of an oriented homogeneous link \(L\), the highest degree of the Conway polynomial \(\nabla_{L}(z)\) is equal to the rank of the Seifert graph. Moreover, suppose that \(G=B_{1}\cup\dots\cup B_{k}\) and \(M_{i}\;(i=1, 2, \dots , k) \) are as above, the leading coefficient of \(\nabla_{L}(z)\) is equal to \(\prod_{i=1}^{k}\epsilon_{i}^{r_{i}}|\det M_{i}|\), where \(\epsilon_{i}\) is the sign of the edges in \(B_{i}\) and \(r_{i}\) is the rank of \(B_{i}\). As a corollary, it is reproved that a projection surface obtained from a connected homogeneous diagram of an oriented link is a minimal-genus spanning surface for the link. The proof of the main theorem is geometric and based on the close relation between the Seifert matrix and the decomposition into blocks of the Seifert graph. Since the homogeneous block \(B_{i}\) corresponds to an alternating diagram, by the work of \textit{K. Murasugi} [J. Math. Soc. Japan 10, 94--105 (1958; Zbl 0084.19301); ibid. 235--248 (1958; Zbl 0106.16701); Osaka Math. J. 12, 277--303 (1960; Zbl 0113.38603)] and \textit{R. H. Crowell} [Ann. Math. (2) 69, 258--275 (1959; Zbl 0111.35803)] the Seifert matrix \(M_{i}\) has nonzero determinant. As an alternative treatment, the author looks into an explicit form of matrices which reflects the planar structure of the Seifert graph.