Localization and the link Floer homology of doubly-periodic knots (Q907016)

The author studies the link Floer homology [\textit{P. Ozsváth} and \textit{Z. Szabó}, Algebr. Geom. Topol. 8, No. 2, 615--692 (2008; Zbl 1144.57011)] of \(q\)-periodic knots in \(S^3\) by constructing Heegaard diagrams which are preserved by the action of \(\mathbb Z_q\). These periodic Heegaard diagrams are used to give a new proof of a theorem of Murasugi in the case where \(q=p^r\) for some prime \(p\) [\textit{K. Murasugi}, Comment. Math. Helv. 46, 162--174 (1971; Zbl 0206.25603)]. Restricting to the case of doubly periodic knots in \(S^3\) the author constructs a spectral sequence following [\textit{P. Seidel} and \textit{I. Smith}, Geom. Funct. Anal. 20, No. 6, 1464--1501 (2010; Zbl 1210.53084)]. The spectral sequence serves as a new invariant that is used to recover the lower bound on the genus of a doubly periodic knot in \(S^3\) proved in [\textit{A. L. Edmonds}, Topology Appl. 18, 109--113 (1984; Zbl 0557.57003)] as well as a weaker version of a result in [\textit{A. L. Edmonds} and \textit{C. Livingston}, Comment. Math. Helv. 58, 529--542 (1983; Zbl 0532.57024)]. The author then gives an example of a knot which is not obstructed from being two-periodic by the results in Edmonds' and Livingston's papers but is obstructed from being two-periodic by the spectral sequence. A knot \(\widetilde{K} \subset S^3\) is called a \textit{periodic knot} if there exists an action of \(\mathbb Z_q\) on \((S^3,\widetilde{K})\) that preserves \(\widetilde{K}\) and whose fixed set is an unknot \(\widetilde{U}\) disjoint from \(\widetilde{K}\). When \(q=2\) the knot is called \textit{doubly-periodic}. The quotient of \((S^3,\widetilde{K})\) under the group action is another knot \((S^3,K)\) and the quotient map \((S^3,\tilde{K}) \rightarrow (S^3,K)\) is a \(q\)-fold branched cover over an unknot \(U\), the image of \(\widetilde{U}\). In Section 2 of the paper the author reviews the link Floer homology in \(S^3\) defined by Ozsváth and Szabó, and in Section 3 she constructs a Heegaard diagram for \((S^3,\widetilde{K} \cup \widetilde{U})\) which is preserved by the action of \(\mathbb Z_q\) and whose quotient under the action is a Heegaard diagram for \((S^3, K \cup U)\). This leads to a new proof of the following theorem (due to Murasugi) relating the Alexander polynomials \(\Delta_{\widetilde{K}}(t)\) and \(\Delta_{K}(t)\) in the case \(q = p^r\) for some prime \(p\): Theorem 1.1. \[ \Delta_{\widetilde{K}}(t) \equiv t^{\pm i} (1 + t + \cdots + t^{\lambda-1})^{q-1} (\Delta_K(t))^q \text{ modulo }p \] where \(\lambda = \text{lk}(\widetilde{K},\widetilde{U}) = \text{lk}(K,U)\) and \(i\) is some element of \(\mathbb Z\). Restricting to the case of doubly-periodic knots and applying the work of Seidel and Smith the author proves the following theorems where \(\mathbb Z_2((\theta)) = \mathbb Z_2[[\theta]] (\theta^{-1})\) and \(V\) and \(W\) are \(2\)-dimensional vector spaces over \(\mathbb Z_2\): Theorem 1.2. There is an integer \(n_1\) less than half the number of crossings of a periodic diagram \(D\) for \(\widetilde{K}\) such that there is a spectral sequence whose \(E^1\) page is \(\left(\widehat{HFL}(S^3,\widetilde{K} \cup \widetilde{U}) \otimes V^{\otimes(2n_1-1)}\right) \otimes\mathbb Z_2((\theta))\) and whose \(E^\infty\) page is isomorphic to \(\left (\widehat{HFL}(S^3, K \cup U) \otimes V^{\otimes(n_1 - 1)}\right) \otimes \mathbb Z_2((\theta))\) as \(\mathbb Z_2((\theta))\)-modules. This sequence splits along the Alexander multigradings, and carries the grading \((A_1,A_2) = (2a+\frac{1}{2},b)\) to \((A_1,A_2) = (a + \frac{1}{2},b)\) for all \(a,b \in\mathbb Z\). In any grading \((A_1,A_2)\) which cannot be written as \((2a + \frac{1}{2},b)\) the last page of the spectral sequence is empty. Theorem 1.3. There is an integer \(n_1\) less than half the number of crossings on a periodic diagram \(D\) for \(\widetilde{K}\) such that there is a spectral sequence whose \(E^1\) page is \(\left(\widehat{HFL}(S^3,\widetilde{K}) \otimes V^{\otimes(2n_1-1)} \otimes W \right) \otimes\mathbb Z_2((\theta))\) and whose \(E^\infty\) page is isomorphic to \(\left( \widehat{HFL}(S^3, K) \otimes V^{\otimes(n_1 - 1)} \otimes W \right) \otimes\mathbb Z_2((\theta))\). This sequence splits along the Alexander gradings, and carries the Alexander grading \(A_1 = 2a+\frac{1-\lambda}{2}\) to \(A_1 = a + \frac{1-\lambda}{2}\) for all integers \(a \in\mathbb Z\). In any grading \(A_1\) which cannot be written as \(2a + \frac{1-\lambda}{2}\) the last page of the spectral sequence is empty. By examining the Alexander gradings in these spectral sequences the author proves rank inequalities between the \(\widehat{HFL}\) homologies of the Heegaard diagrams for \(\widetilde{K} \cup \widetilde{U}\) and \(K \cup U\) and the following two corollaries. The first was originally proved by Edmonds and the second is a weaker version of a theorem proved by Edmonds and Livingston. Corollary 1.16 Let \(\widetilde{K}\) be a doubly-periodic knot in \(S^3\) and \(K\) its quotient knot. Then \[ g(\widetilde{K}) \geq 2g(K) + \frac{\lambda - 1}{2}. \] Corollary 1.7. Let \(\widetilde{K}\) be a doubly-periodic knot in \(S^3\) and \(K\) its quotient knot. If Edmonds' condition is sharp and \(\widetilde{K}\) is fibered, \(K\) is fibered. The author then gives an example of a knot \(\widetilde{K}\) that is not prevented from being doubly-covered by Edmonds' and Murasugi's conditions, but it can be shown to be not doubly-covered using the spectral sequence in Theorem 1.3. Specifically, \(\widetilde{K}\) is the connected sum of the Kinoshita-Terasaka knot 11n42 and the right-hand trefoil \(3_1\). Sections 4--6 of the paper are devoted to reviewing the spectral sequence of Seidel and Smith and proving Theorems 1.2 and 1.3. Section 7 of the paper works out some examples of the spectral sequences of Theorems 1.2 and 1.3.