The colored Jones polynomial and the \(A\)-polynomial of knots (Q855515)

For a knot \(K\) in the 3--space \(\mathbb R^3 \subset \mathbb S^3\) the colored Jones function \(J_K \colon \mathbb Z \to \mathbb C[t^{\pm 1}]\) is defined for integers \(n\in \mathbb Z\); its value \(J_K(n)\) is known as the colored Jones polynomial of the knot \(K\) with color \(n\). It is defined by the equation \(J_K(n+1):= (-1)^n \times \langle S_n(K)\rangle\), where \(\langle S_n(K)\rangle\) is the Kauffmann bracket of the \(n\)th power \(K^n\) consisting of \(n\) parallel copies of \(K\). The aim of this paper is to study relationships between the colored Jones polynomial and the \(A\)--polynomial of a knot \(K\), introduced in [\textit{D. Cooper, M. Culler, H. Gillett, D. D. Long, P. B. Shalen}, Invent. Math. 118, 47-84 (1994; Zbl 0842.57013)]. A conjecture of Garoufalidis [\textit{S. Garoufalidis}, Gordon, Cameron (ed.) et al., Proceedings of the Casson Fest. Based on the 28th University of Arkansas spring lecture series in the mathematical sciences, Fayetteville, AR, USA, April 10--12, 2003 and the conference on the topology of manifolds of dimensions 3 and 4, Austin, TX, USA, May 19--21, 2003. Coventry: Geometry and Topology Publications. Geometry and Topology Monographs 7, 291-309 (2004; Zbl 1080.57014)] relates the colored Jones polynomial and the \(A\)--polynomial (AJ conjecture). The main goal of this paper is to establish the AJ conjecture for a large class of two--bridge knots, which contains all twist knots. A weaker conjecture is then formulated and it is proved that it holds for all two--bridge knots. Another result is the calculation of the Kauffmann bracket skein module of all two--bridge knots.