The braid index of reduced alternating links

DOI10.1017/S0305004118000907zbMATH Open1446.57002arXiv1701.07366OpenAlexW2964158996MaRDI QIDQ5115539FDOQ5115539

Gabor Hetyei, Pengyu Liu, Y. Diao

Publication date: 16 August 2020

Published in: Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: It is well known that the minimum crossing number of an alternating link equals the number of crossings in any reduced alternating link diagram of the link. This remarkable result is an application of the Jones polynomial. In the case of the braid index of an alternating link, Murasugi had conjectured that the number of Seifert circles in a reduced alternating diagram of the link equals the braid index of the link. This conjecture turned out to be false. In this paper we prove the next best thing that one could hope for: we characterize exactly those alternating links for which their braid indices equal to the numbers of Seifert circles in their corresponding reduced alternating link diagrams. More specifically, we prove that if $D$ is a reduced alternating link diagram of an alternating link $L$, then $b(L)$, the braid index of $L$, equals the number of Seifert circles in $D$ if and only if $G_S(D)$ contains no edges of weight one. Here $G_S(D)$, called the Seifert graph of $D$, is an edge weighted simple graph obtained from $D$ by identifying each Seifert circle of $D$ as a vertex of $G_S(D)$ such that two vertices in $G_S(D)$ are connected by an edge if and only if the two corresponding Seifert circles share crossings between them in $D$ and that the weight of the edge is the number of crossings between the two Seifert circles. This result is partly based on the well known MFW inequality, which states that the $a$-span of the HOMFLY polynomial of $L$ is a lower bound of $2b(L)-2$, as well as a result due to Yamada, which states that the minimum number of Seifert circles over all link diagrams of $L$ equals $b(L)$.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.07366

zbMATH Keywords

alternating linksbraid indexSeifert circles

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Relations of low-dimensional topology with graph theory (57M15) Knot polynomials (57K14) Knot theory (57K10)

Cites Work

• A new polynomial invariant of knots and links
• Hecke algebra representations of braid groups and link polynomials
• State models and the Jones polynomial
• On the Braid Index of Alternating Links
• Seifert circles and knot polynomials
• Conway Algebras and Skein Equivalence of Links
• A spanning tree expansion of the Jones polynomial
• Jones polynomials and classical conjectures in knot theory
• On the crossing number of positive knots and braids and braid index criteria of Jones and Morton-Williams-Franks
• Diagram genus, generators and applications
• Braids and the Jones Polynomial
• Homogeneous Links
• Studying links via closed braids. III: Classifying links which are closed 3-braids
• The minimal number of Seifert circles equals the braid index of a link
• REDUCING BRAID INDEX BY MURASUGI–PRZYTYCKI OPERATION
• The 2-variable polynomial of cable knots
• An index of a graph with applications to knot theory
• POSITIVE ALTERNATING LINKS ARE POSITIVELY ALTERNATING
• A formula for the braid index of links
• The HOMFLY polynomial of links in closed braid form
• ON THE INDEX OF GRAPHS: INDEX VERSUS CYCLE INDEX
• Circuit Partitions and the Homfly Polynomial of Closed Braids
• On the definition of graph index

Cited In (12)

• On homogeneous quasipositive links
• A formula for the braid index of links
• ON THE FLAT BRAIDZEL LENGTH OF LINKS
• Sublinks of strongly quasipositive links
• On the Minimal Crossing Number and the Braid Index of Links
• On alternating quasipositive links
• A diagrammatic approach for determining the braid index of alternating links
• Writhe-like invariants of alternating links
• A characterization of quasipositive two-bridge knots
• The braid indices of pretzel links: a comprehensive study. II
• On the Braid Index of Alternating Links
• Families of curly knots

Recommendations

• On the Braid Index of Alternating Links 👍 👎
• The braid index of polyhedral links 👍 👎
• On the Minimal Crossing Number and the Braid Index of Links 👍 👎
• The algebraic crossing number and the braid index of knots and links 👍 👎
• A formula for the braid index of links 👍 👎
• On the braid index of links with nested diagrams 👍 👎
• ON THE QUASITORIC BRAID INDEX OF A LINK 👍 👎
• A diagrammatic approach for determining the braid index of alternating links 👍 👎
• Title not available (Why is that?) 👍 👎
• Title not available (Why is that?) 👍 👎

This page was built for publication: The braid index of reduced alternating links

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q5115539)