Showing distinctness of surface links by taking 2-dimensional braids (Q499904)

For any positive integer \(k\), the author defines a \(2\)-component torus link \(S_k\) in \(4\)-space. This is an unbranched covering of the standard torus in \(4\)-space lying inside a tubular neighbohood of that torus. To distinguish \(S_k\) and \(S_l\) for \(k \neq l\) as surface links in \(4\)-space, he works with satellites \(\tilde{S_k}\), \(\tilde{S_l}\) resp., which are \(2\)-dimensional braids over \(S_k\), \(S_l\) resp., and have four components each. This way, triple linking numbers of surface link diagrams can be exploited which require at least three components. As a consequence, infinitely many distinct surface links with free abelian groups of rank two exist.