Crossing number and diameter of boundary slope set of Montesinos knot (Q947304)

A compact connected surface properly embedded in the exterior \(E(K)\) of a knot \(K\) in \(S^3\) is essential if it is incompressible, \(\partial\)-incompressible and non-boundary parallel. An essential surface in \(E(K)\) with non-empty boundary determines a slope on \(\partial E(K)\), i.e., an isotopy class of essential simple closed curves; such a slope is called a boundary slope of \(K\). Using a standard meridian-longitude pair in \(\partial E(K)\), the set of slopes on \(\partial E(K)\) is parameterized by \({\mathbb Q}\cup {1/0}\). It is well known that for a given knot the number of boundary slopes is finite, and that there are at least two boundary slopes. For a knot \(K\), define the diameter of \(K\), \(Diam(K)\), as the difference between the largest and the smallest of the boundary slopes, taken as rational numbers (excluding \(1/0\)). The main result of the paper under review shows that for a Montesinos knot \(K\), \(2cr(K)\geq Diam(K)\), where \(cr(K)\) denotes the crossing number of \(K\), that is, the minimal number of crossing among all diagrams of \(K\). Furthermore, equality holds if the knot is alternating. It is not known whether this inequality holds for all knots. To prove the result, the authors uses the algorithm of \textit{A. E. Hatcher} and \textit{U. Oertel} [Topology 28, No.~4, 453--480 (1989; Zbl 0686.57006)] which lists all boundary slopes for Montesinos knots, and the results of \textit{W. B. R. Lickorish} and \textit{M. B. Thistlethwaite} [Comment. Math. Helv. 63, No.~4, 527-539 (1988; Zbl 0686.57002)], who calculated the crossing number of Montesinos knots.