Complete classification of generalized crossing changes between GOF-knots (Q7007380)

Let \(K\) be a knot in an oriented \(3\)-manifold. A circle \(L\) is called a crossing circle for \(K\) if it bounds a disk, called a crossing disk, that intersects \(K\) in two points with opposite directions. For \(q \in \mathbb{Z} \setminus \{0\}\), a generalized crossing change along \(L\) of order \(q\) is \(-\frac{1}{q}\)-surgery on \(L\). Note that the ambient \(3\)-manifold does not change with this surgery. Also, when \(K\) is a knot in \(S^3\), \(\pm 1\)-surgery results in a crossing change for \(K\) in the usual sense. This paper gives a complete classification of generalized crossing changes for genus-one fibered knots (GOF-knots) that result in other GOF-knots. This problem can be related to a classification of monodromies with the specific properties. A key observation is that if \(K\) is a GOF-knot admitting such a surgery, then after the cut-and-paste argument, the crossing disk intersects a fiber surface \(F\) of \(K\) in a single arc \(\alpha\). Furthermore, such \(\alpha\) must be either clean (i.e. \(|\alpha \cap h(\alpha)|=0\)) or once-unclean (i.e. \(|\alpha \cap h(\alpha)|=1\)) with respect to a monodromy \(h:F \to F\). The authors also identify when a GOF-knot admits two inequivalent generalized crossing changes which may result in different GOF-knots. This result is established by analyzing the action of monodromies on the arc complex of a fiber surface.