On the minimum number of colors for knots

Abstract: In this article we take up the calculation of the minimum number of colors needed to produce a non-trivial coloring of a knot. This is a knot invariant and we use the torus knots of type (2, n) as our case study. We calculate the minima in some cases. In other cases we estimate upper bounds for these minima leaning on the features of modular arithmetic. We introduce a sequence of transformations on colored diagrams called Teneva Transformations. Each of these Transformations reduces the number of colors in the diagrams by one (up to a point). This allows us to further decrease the upper bounds on these minima. We conjecture on the value of these minima. We apply these Transformations to rational knots.

Review text

An \(r\)-colouring of a diagram \(D\) assigns a colour \(i\in\mathbb{Z}_r\) to each arc of \(D\), where \(\mathbb{Z}_r\) is the set of the integers mod \(r\). In each crossing, the sum of the integers at the under-arcs minus twice the integer at the over-arc must be zero mod \(r\). If \(r\) is prime, in each crossing there will be either only one colour or three different colours. For \(r=3\) this is the red-blue-green classical colouring. A diagram with \(n\) crossings then sets up a system of \(n\) equations over \(\mathbb{Z}_r\) of the form \(i+j-2k = 0\bmod r\). Colourings are the solutions of this system; trivial colourings are the trivial solutions, obtained by using the same colour for all the arcs of the diagram. Diagrams representing the same knot have the same number of different \(r\)-colourings; a bijection between the \(r\)-colourings can be easily established considering the colourings of the diagram before and after a Reidemeister move. The sequence of numbers of \(r\)-colourings, \(r \in \mathbb N\), gives the colour spectrum of a knot, an obvious knot invariant [\textit{F. M. Dionísio} and \textit{P. Lopes}, J. Knot Theory Ramifications 12, No. 8, 1041--1092 (2003; Zbl 1053.57009)]. Another invariant of knots, denoted by min col\(_r K\), is the minimum number of colours necessary for producing a non-trivial \(r\)-colouring, considering all the possible diagrams of the knot \(K\). In this definition we have to consider all the diagrams since the bijection of colourings above mentioned does not preserve in general the number of colours. The authors study these invariants for the torus knot \(T(2,n)\), closure of the \(n\)-power of the simple braid with two strings \(\sigma _1\). They first prove (using a bit of modular arithmetic) that the number of \(r\)-colourings of \(T(2,n)\) is \(qr\), where \(q\) is the greatest common divisor of \(r\) and \(n\). The other main result is related to min col\(_r T(2,n)\). Precisely, assume that \(n\) and \(r\) are not coprime and let \(p\) be the least common prime divisor of \(n\) and \(r\), apart from \(1\). Then, if \(p=2\) or \(3\), min col\(_r T(2,n)=p\), and if \(p=2k+1\) with \(k\geq 2\), min col\(_r K \leq k+2\). For the last statement, a bit of modular arithmetic gives \(2k+1\) as a first upper bound. A further reduction of this upper bound is obtained via the Teneva transformation, a combination of one type I Reidemeister move and several type III Reidemeister moves performed on the typical tower \(\sigma_1^n\) of a rational knot.

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