On symmetric matrices associated with oriented link diagrams

Publication date: 14 January 2018

Abstract: Let

D

be an oriented link diagram with the set of regions

o p e r a t o r n a m e r_{D}

. We define a symmetric map (or matrix)

o p e r a t o r n a m e {a u}_{D} c o l o n o p e r a t o r n a m e r_{D} i m e s o p e r a t o r n a m e r_{D} o m a t h b b Z [x]

that gives rise to an invariant of oriented links, based on a slightly modified

S

-equivalence of Trotter and Murasugi in the space of symmetric matrices. In particular, for real

x

, the negative signature of

o p e r a t o r n a m e {a u}_{D}

corrected by the writhe is conjecturally twice the Tristram--Levine signature function, where

2 x = s q r t t + f r a c 1 s q r t t

with

t

being the indeterminate of the Alexander polynomial.

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