On Heegaard splittings of knot exteriors with tunnel number degenerations (Q898509)

Let \(K\) be a knot in \(S^3\). The tunnel number of \(K\), \(t(K)\) is defined as the minimum number of arcs properly embedded in the exterior of \(K\), such that the exterior of a regular neighborhood of \(K\) union the arcs is homeomorphic to a handlebody. In the paper under review, the author considers connected sums of knots where there is a degeneration of tunnel numbers, i.e. knots \(K_1\) and \(K_2\) such that \(t (K_1 \# K_2)< t (K_1) + t( K_2)\). In a previous paper, the author [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 123, No. 11, 3527--3532 (1995; Zbl 0854.57006)] showed that there are infinitely many pairs of knots \(K_1\), \(K_2\), such that \(t (K_1) = 1\), \(t (K_2)=2\) and \(t(K_1 \# K_2) = 2\). In another one of his papers [Topology Appl. 64, No. 2, 165--176 (1995; Zbl 0827.57002)], these knots are characterized; it is proved that if \(t(K_1)+t(K_2) > 2\) and \(t(K_1\# K_2) = 2\) then \(t(K_1) + t(K_2) = 3\), and that \(t(K_1) =1, t(K_2) =2\) and \(t(K_1\# K_2) =2\) if and only if \(K_1\) is a \(2\)-bridge knot and \(K_2\) is a knot with a \(2\)-string essential free tangle decomposition such that at least one of the two tangles has an unknotted component. In the present paper, the author studies genus three Heegaard splittings for \(E( K_1 \# K_2 )\), for knots \(K_1\), \(K_2\) as in the previous result. It is proved that any genus three Heegaard splitting of \(E(K_1 \# K_2)\) is strongly irreducible; this result had been obtained previously for a subfamily of these knots by \textit{Y. Moriah} [Topology Appl. 141, No. 1--3, 1--20 (2004; Zbl 1056.57006)]. It is proved that such knots have at most four genus three Heegaard splittings up to homeomorphism, and a complete classification of the Heegaard splittings is given; in fact, such knots have one, two or four Heegaard splittings.