The slice-Bennequin inequality for the fractional Dehn twist coefficient

arXiv2204.05288MaRDI QIDQ6396243FDOQ6396243

Publication date: 11 April 2022

Abstract: We characterize the fractional Dehn twist coefficient (FDTC) on the

n

-stranded braid group as the unique homogeneous quasimorphism to the real numbers of defect at most 1 that equals 1 on the positive full twist and vanishes on the

(n - 1)

-stranded braid subgroup. In a different direction, we establish that the slice-Bennequin inequality holds with the FDTC in place of the writhe. In other words, we establish an affine linear lower bound for the smooth slice genus of the closure of a braid in terms of the braid's FDTC. We also discuss connections between these two seemingly unrelated results. In the appendix we provide a unifying framework for the slice-Bennequin inequality and its counterpart for the FDTC.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

2-dimensional topology (including mapping class groups of surfaces, Teichmüller theory, curve complexes, etc.) (57K20) Knot theory (57K10)

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