Alternating knots with unknotting number one

DOI10.1016/J.AIM.2016.09.033zbMATH Open1353.57013arXiv1312.1278OpenAlexW2963087536MaRDI QIDQ340422FDOQ340422

Authors: Duncan McCoy 

Publication date: 14 November 2016

Published in: Advances in Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We prove that if an alternating knot has unknotting number one, then there exists an unknotting crossing in any alternating diagram. This is done by showing that the obstruction to unknotting number one developed by Greene in his work on alternating 3-braid knots is sufficient to identify all unknotting number one alternating knots. As a consequence, we also get a converse to the Montesinos trick: an alternating knot has unknotting number one if its branched double cover arises as half-integer surgery on a knot in $S^3$. We also reprove a characterisation of almost-alternating diagrams of the unknot originally due to Tsukamoto.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.1278

Recommendations

• Donaldson's theorem, Heegaard Floer homology, and knots with unknotting number one
• The almost alternating diagrams of the trivial knot
• Classification of alternating knots with tunnel number one
• On L-space knots obtained from unknotting arcs in alternating diagrams
• Non-integer surgery and branched double covers of alternating knots

zbMATH Keywords

Dehn surgeryunknotting numberalternating knotbranched double coverchangemaker latticeGoeritz matrixMontesinos trick

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Lattices and convex bodies in (n) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C07) Low-dimensional topology of special (e.g., branched) coverings (57M12) Relations of low-dimensional topology with graph theory (57M15)

Cites Work

• On the Floer homology of plumbed three-manifolds
• An application of gauge theory to four dimensional topology
• The lens space realization problem
• Cosmetic surgeries on knots in \(S^3\)
• On the Heegaard Floer homology of branched double-covers
• Dehn surgery on knots
• Khovanov homology and the slice genus
• Knot Floer homology and rational surgeries
• State models and the Jones polynomial
• Knots.
• On Culler-Shalen seminorms and Dehn filling
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Genus of alternating link types
• Gauge theory for embedded surfaces. I
• A note on unknotting number
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• The classification of alternating links
• Kauffman's polynomial and alternating links
• Homology of group systems with applications to knot theory
• On the signature of a link
• Polynomial values, the linking form and unknotting numbers
• L-space surgeries, genus bounds, and the cabling conjecture
• Donaldson's theorem, Heegaard Floer homology, and knots with unknotting number one
• Unknotting information from Heegaard Floer homology
• Some Examples Related to 4-Genera, Unknotting Numbers and Knot Polynomials
• Non-integer surgery and branched double covers of alternating knots
• Two-Bridge Links with Unlinking Number One
• Deficiency Symmetries of Surgeries in S3
• Pretzel knots with unknotting number one
• The almost alternating diagrams of the trivial knot
• Jones Polynomials of Alternating Links
• Unknotting Information from 4-Manifolds
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• UNKNOTTING NUMBERS AND MINIMAL KNOT DIAGRAMS
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Two-Bridge Knots with Unknotting Number One
• On a Certain Numerical Invariant of Link Types
• Knots with unknotting number one and Heegaard Floer homology
• Note on Complete Sequences of Integers
• Knots with unknotting number 1 and essential Conway spheres
• A remark on Khovanov homology and two-fold branched covers

Cited In (15)

• Genera of knots in the complex projective plane
• Bounds on alternating surgery slopes
• Links with splitting number one
• Untwisting information from Heegaard Floer homology
• Non-integer surgery and branched double covers of alternating knots
• The Montesinos trick for proper rational tangle replacement
• An Algorithm to Find Ribbon Disks for Alternating Knots
• On unknotting numbers and knot trivadjacency
• Knots with unknotting number one and Heegaard Floer homology
• A characterisation of alternating knot exteriors
• Knots with unknotting number 1 and essential Conway spheres
• Unknotting genus one knots
• Crosscap numbers of alternating knots via unknotting splices
• ON AN INEQUALITY BETWEEN UNKNOTTING NUMBER AND CROSSING NUMBER OF LINKS
• A Counterexample to the Bernhard–Jablan Unknotting Conjecture

Uses Software

• KnotInfo

This page was built for publication: Alternating knots with unknotting number one

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q340422)