Random space and plane curves

Abstract: We study random knots, which we define as a triple of random periodic functions (where a random function is a random trigonometric series, [f( heta) = sum_{k=1}^infty a_k cos (k heta) +b_k (sin k heta),] with

a_{k}, b_{k}

are independent gaussian random variables with mean

0

and variance

s i g m a (k)^{2}

- our results will depend on the functional dependence of

s i g m a

on

k .

In particular, we show that if

s i g m a (k) = k^{a} l p h a,

with

a l p h a < - 3 / 2,

then the probability of getting a knot type which admits a projection with

N

crossings, decays at least as fast as

1 / N .

The constant

3 / 2

is significant, because having

a l p h a < - 3 / 2

is exactly the condition for

f (h e t a)

to be a

C^{1}

function, so our class is precisely the class of random emph{tame} knots. We also find some suprising experimental observations on the zeros of Alexander polynomials of random knots (with slowly and non-decaying coefficients), and even more surprising observations on their coefficients. Our observations persist in other models of random knots, making it likely that the results are universal.

This page was built for publication: Random space and plane curves

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6275685)