Alexander polynomials of periodic knots (Q1184323)

A knot in the 3-sphere \(S^ 3\) has period \(n\) if it is invariant under a periodic transformation of \(S^ 3\) of order \(n\) having as fixed point set a circle disjoint from the knot. Murasugi gave algebraic conditions for the Alexander polynomial of a knot with period \(n\). The present paper discusses the following two questions. When does a polynomial satisfy the Murasugi conditions? Is a polynomial satisfying the Murasugi conditions the Alexander polynomial of some knot of period \(n\)? With some modified set of conditions, the second question is answered positively under some additional assumptions. The modified criteria (in particular an equivalent algebraically more tractable version for the case of prime periods) are applied to various knots with 10 crossings. Also, generalized conditions for Alexander modules and higher Alexander polynomials are derived and applied. As a main application, a bound for the possible periods of a knot is given which is based only on the Alexander polynomial (this is the general philosophy of the paper: if the Alexander polynomial works it is the most direct and elementary method to compute the periods of a given knot; concerning other methods, especially hyperbolic structures on knot complements have been applied with success recently).