The 6- and 8-palette numbers of links (Q524343)

Let \(n\) be an integer greater than one. An \(n\)-coloring for a diagram \(D\) of a link/surface-link is a map \(C\) from the set of arcs/sheets of \(D\) to \(\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}\) such that \(a+c \equiv 2b \pmod{n}\) at every crossing/double point curve of \(D\), where \(a\) and \(c\) are the elements of \(\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}\) assigned by \(C\) to the under-arcs/sheets and \(b\) is the element assigned to the over-arc/sheet. An \(n\)-coloring is effective if for every prime factor \(p\) of \(n\), the \(p\)-coloring obtained by reduction modulo \(p\) is non-trivial. A link/surface-link \(L\) is effectively \(n\)-colorable if a diagram of \(L\) admits an effective \(n\)-coloring. For an effectively \(n\)-colorable link/surface-link \(L\), the \(n\)-palette number \(C^*_n(L)\) is the minimum number of distinct colors used in an effectively \(n\)-colored diagram of \(L\) among all the effectively \(n\)-colored diagrams. The main results are as follow. For an effectively \(n\)-colorable link \(L\) in \(\mathbb{R}^3\), (i) for \(n=6\), \(C^*_6(L)=4\) if \(L\) is non-splittable, and (ii) for \(n=8\), \(C^*_8(L)=5\) if \(L\) is not \(\mathbb{Z}\)-colorable. Together with the known results, the result (i) implies that for \(4\leq n \leq 7\), \(C^*_n(L)=4\) if \(L\) is non-splittable. These equalities hold true also for ribbon 2-links. The authors show that for an effectively \(n\)-colorable ribbon 2-link \(L\) in \(\mathbb{R}^4\), (i) for \(n=6\), \(C^*_6(L)=4\) if \(L\) is non-splittable, (ii) for \(n=8\), \(C^*_8(L)=5\) if \(L\) is not \(\mathbb{Z}\)-colorable, and (iii) for \(n=13\), \(C^*_{13}(L)=5\) if \(L\) is not \(\mathbb{Z}\)-colorable. Here, a \(\mathbb{Z}\)-coloring for a diagram \(D\) of a link/surface-link is a map \(C\) similar to an \(n\)-coloring, such that we have \(\mathbb{Z}\) instead of \(\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}\), and \(a+c=2b\) instead of \(a+c \equiv 2b \pmod{n}\), and a link/surface-link \(L\) is \(\mathbb{Z}\)-colorable if a diagram of \(L\) admits a non-trivial \(\mathbb{Z}\)-coloring. In the proof, the lower estimate is shown by a combinatorial argument, and the upper estimate is shown by reducing the number of the used colors of an effectively \(n\)-colored diagram by Reidemeister moves.