Following the recent work by Chan, and by Morton and Hadji on the Homflypt polynomials of some generalized Hopf links, we investigate the Kauffman polynomials of generalized Hopf links. By studying the Kauffman skein module of the solid torus S^1\times D^2, we establish a similar skein map on the Kauffman skein module of S^1\times D^2 which has distinct eigenvalues. Furthermore we are able to calculate the Kauffman polynomials of some specific generalized Hopf links.
We present an invariant of connected and oriented closed 3-manifolds based on a coribbon Weak Hopf Algebra H with a suitable left-integral. Our invariant can be understood as the generalization to Weak Hopf Algebras of the Hennings-Kauffman-Radford evaluation of an unoriented framed link using a dual quantum-trace. This quantum trace satisfies conditions that render the link evaluation invariant under Kirby moves. If H is a suitable finite-dimensional Hopf algebra (not weak), our invariant reduces to the Kauffman-Radford invariant for the dual of H. If H is the Weak Hopf Algebra Tannaka-Krein …
We calculate the Kauffman bracket skein module (KBSM) of the complement of all two-bridge links. For a two-bridge link, we show that the KBSM of its complement is free over the ring $\BC[t^{\pm 1}]$ and when reducing $t=-1$, it is isomorphic to the ring of regular functions on the character variety of the link group.
We give an upper bound on the z-degree of the Kauffman polynomial of a link, using bridges of length greater than one which are separated in some tangle decomposition of a link diagram. We construct some examples by wiring together rational tangles.
In this paper, we formulate a construction of ideal coset invariants for surface-links in $4$-space using invariants for knots and links in $3$-space. We apply the construction to the Kauffman bracket polynomial invariant and obtain an invariant for surface-links called the Kauffman bracket ideal coset invariant of surface-links. We also define a series of new invariants $\{{\mathbf K}_{2n-1}(\mathcal L) | n=2, 3, 4, \ldots\}$ for surface-links $\mathcal L$ by using skein relations, which are more effective than the Kauffman bracket ideal coset invariant to distinguish given surface-links.
We show that the Kauffman bracket skein modules of certain manifolds obtained from integral surgery on a (2,2b) torus link are finitely generated, and list the generators for select examples.
This paper contains general formulae for the reduced relative Tutte, Kauffman bracket and Jones polynomials of families of virtual knots and links given in Conway notation and discussion of a counterexample to the Z-move conjecture of Fenn, Kauffman and Manturov.
It is known that alternative links are pseudoalternating. In 1983 Louis Kauffman conjectured that both classes are identical. In this paper we prove that Kauffman Conjecture holds for those links whose first Betti number is at most 2. However, it is not true in general when this value increases, as we also prove by finding two counterexamples: a link and a knot whose first Betti numbers equal 3 and 4, respectively.
We give a congruence relating a one variable specialization of the two variable Kauffman polynomial of any periodic link to that of its mirror image. Consequently, we obtain a new and simple criterion for periodicity of links.
Let k be a subring of the field of rational functions in α, s which contains α^{1}, α^{-1}, s^{1}, s^{-1}, . Let M be a compact oriented 3-manifold, and let K(M) denote the Kauffman skein module of M over k. Then K(M) is the free k-module generated by isotopy classes of framed links in M modulo the Kauffman skein relations. In the case of k={Q}(α, s), the field of rational functions in α, s, we give a basis for the Kauffman skein module of the solid torus and a basis for the relative Kauffman skein module of the solid torus with two points on the boundary. We then show that K(S^{1} \times S^2)…
M. Niebrzydowski and J. H. Przytycki defined a Kauffman bracket magma and constructed the invariant P of framed links in 3-space. The invariant is closely related to the Kauffman bracket polynomial. The normalized bracket polynomial is obtained from the Kauffman bracket polynomial by the multiplication of indeterminate and it is an ambient isotopy invariant for links. In this paper, we reformulate the multiplication by using a map from the set of framed links to a Kauffman bracket magma in order that $P$ is invariant for links in 3-space. We define a generalization of a Kauffman bracket magma,…
In this chapter (Chapter III) we introduce the concept of Conway algebras (the notion related to entropic magmas) and describe invariants of links yielded by (partial) Conway algebras (including the Homflypt polynomial and signatures). We present, in detail, a proof (following the original Przytycki-Traczyk 1984 proof) of the existence of Conway type invariants. Then we describe Kauffman's method of constructing link invariants, in particular, giving the Kauffman polynomial of two variables. We develop a formalism, Kauffman algebras, analogous to that of Conway algebras. This chapter, along wi…
We study framed links in irreducible 3-manifolds that are $Z$-homology 3-spheres or atoroidal $Q$-homology 3-spheres. We calculate the dual of the Kauffman skein module over the ring of two variable power series with complex coefficients. For links in $S^3$ we give a new construction of the classical Kauffman polynomial.
We define two new invariants for tied links. One of them can be thought as an extension of the Kauffman polynomial and the other one as an extension of the Jones polynomial which is constructed via a bracket polynomial for tied links. These invariants are more powerful than both the Kauffman and the bracket polynomials when evaluated on classical links. Further, the extension of the Kauffman polynomial is more powerful of the Homflypt polynomial, as well as of certain new invariants introduced recently. Also we propose a new algebra which plays in the case of tied links the same role as the BM…
We use the idea of expressing a nonoriented link as a sum of all oriented links corresponding to the link to present a short proof of the Lickorish-Millett-Turaev formula for the Kauffman polynomial at $z= -a- a^{-1}$. Our approach explains the observation made by Lickorish and Millett that the formula is the generating function for the linking number of a sublink of the given link with its complementary sublink.
Using the colored Kauffman skein relation, we study the highest and lowest $4n$ coefficients of the $n^{th}$ unreduced colored Jones polynomial of alternating links. This gives a natural extension of a result by Kauffman in regard with the Jones polynomial of alternating links and its highest and lowest coefficients. We also use our techniques to give a new and natural proof for the existence of the tail of the colored Jones polynomial for alternating links.
We extend the Kamada-Miyazawa polynomial to virtual singular links, which is valued in $\mathbb{Z}[A^2, A^{-2}, h]$. The decomposition of the resulting polynomial into two components, one in $\mathbb{Z}[A^2, A^{-2}]$ and the other in $\mathbb{Z}[A^2, A^{-2}]h$ yields the decomposition of the Kauffman-Jones polynomial of virtual singular links into two components, one in $\mathbb{Z}[A^2, A^{-2}]$ and the other in $\mathbb{Z}[A^2, A^{-2}]A^2$, where both components are invariants for virtual singular links.
The W-polynomial is applied in two ways to questions involving the Kauffman bracket of some families of links. First we find a geometric property of a link diagram, which is less than or equal to the twist number, that bounds the Mahler measure of the Kauffman bracket. Second we find a general form for the Kauffman bracket of a link found by surgering in a single rational tangle along n unlinked components, all in a particular annulus. We then give a condition under which the Mahler measure of the Kauffman bracket of such families diverges. We give examples of the condition in action.
Given any diagram of a link, we define on the cube of Kauffman's states a "2-complex" whose homology is an invariant of the associated framed links, and such that the graded Euler characteristic reproduces the unnormalized Kauffman bracket. This includes a categorification of brackets skein relation. Then we incorporate the orientation information and get a further complex on the same cube that gives rise to a new invariant homology for oriented links, so that the graded Euler characteristic reproduces the unnormalized Jones polynomial in Kauffman's version. Finally we clarify the relations be…
We show that the Kauffman bracket $[L]$ of a checkerboard colorable virtual link $L$ is an evaluation of the Bollobás-Riordan polynomial $R_{G_L}$ of a ribbon graph associated with $L$. This result generalizes Thistlethwaite's celebrated theorem relating the Kauffman bracket with the Tutte polynomial of planar graphs.
We show that the ungraded ruling invariants of a Legendrian link can be realized as certain coefficients of the Kauffman polynomial which are non-vanishing if and only if the upper bound for the Bennequin number given by the Kauffman polynomial is sharp. This resolves positively a conjecture of Fuchs. Using similar methods a result involving the upper bound given by the HOMFLY polynomial and 2-graded rulings is proved.
This paper bounds the computational cost of computing the Kauffman bracket of a link in terms of the crossing number of that link. Specifically, it is shown that the image of a tangle with $g$ boundary points and $n$ crossings in the Kauffman bracket skein module is a linear combination of $O(2^g)$ basis elements, with each coefficient a polynomial with at most $n$ nonzero terms, each with integer coefficients, and that the link can be built one crossing at a time as a sequence of tangles with maximum number of boundary points bounded by $C\sqrt{n}$ for some $C.$ From this it follows that the …
The Kauffman bracket skein module $S(M)$ of a 3-manifold $M$ is a $\mathbb{Q}(A)$-vector space spanned by links in $M$ modulo the so-called Kauffman relations. In this article, for any closed oriented surface $Σ$ we provide an explicit spanning family for the skein modules $S(Σ\times S^1)$. Combined with earlier work of Gilmer and Masbaum, we answer their question about the dimension of $S(Σ\times S^1)$ being $2^{2g+1} + 2g -1$.
F. Jaeger presented the two-variable Kauffman polynomial of an unoriented link L as a weighted sum of HOMFLY-PT polynomials of oriented links associated with L. Murakami, Ohtsuki and Yamada (MOY) used planar graphs and a recursive evaluation of these graphs to construct a state model for the sl(n)-link invariant (a one-variable specialization of the HOMFLY-PT polynomial). We apply the MOY framework to Jaeger's work, and construct a state summation model for the SO(2n) Kauffman polynomial.
The Kauffman-Harary conjecture states that for any reduced alternating diagram K of a knot with a prime determinant p, every non-trivial Fox p-coloring of K assigns different colors to its arcs. We generalize the conjecture by stating it in terms of homology of the double cover of S^3 branched along a link. In this way we extend the scope of the conjecture to all prime alternating links of arbitrary determinants. We first prove the Kauffman-Harary conjecture for pretzel knots and then we generalize our argument to show the generalized Kauffman-Harary conjecture for all Montesinos links. Finall…
A state generating is introduced to determine the Jones polynomial of a link. Formulae for two infinite families of knots are shown by applying this method, the second family of which are proved to be non-alternating. Moreover, the method is generalized to compute the Jones-Kauffman polynomial of a virtual link. As examples, formulae for one infinite family of virtual knots are given.
Let $G$ be a signed graph. Let $\hat{G}$ be the graph obtained from $G$ by replacing each edge $e$ by a chain or a sheaf. We first establish a relation between the $Q$-polynomial of $\hat{G}$[6] and the $W$-polynomial of $G$ [9]. Two special dual cases are derived from the relation, one of which has been studied in [8]. Based on the one to one correspondence between signed plane graphs and link diagrams, and the correspondence between the $Q$-polynomial of signed plane graph and the Kauffman bracket of link diagram, we can compute the Kauffman bracket of link diagram corresponding to $\hat{G}$…
The Vassiliev conjecture states that the Vassiliev invariants are dense in the space of all numerical link invariants in the sense that any link invariant is a pointwise limit of Vassiliev invariants. In this article, we prove that the Vassiliev conjecture holds in the case of the coefficients of the HOMFLY and the Kauffman polynomials.
Khovanov defined graded homology groups for links L in R^3 and showed that their polynomial Euler characteristic is the Jones polynomial of L. Khovanov's construction does not extend in a straightforward way to links in I-bundles M over surfaces F not D^2 (except for the homology with Z/2 coefficients only). Hence, the goal of this paper is to provide a nontrivial generalization of his method leading to homology invariants of links in M with arbitrary rings of coefficients. After proving the invariance of our homology groups under Reidemeister moves, we show that the polynomial Euler character…
We compute the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of a twist knot, finding that it is free and infinite dimensional. The basis consists of cables of a two-component link, one component of which is a meridian of the knot. The cabling of the meridian can be arbitrarily large while the cabling of the other component is limited to the number of twists.
In this paper the properties of the Kauffman bracket skein module of $L(p,q)$ are investigated. Links in lens spaces are represented both through band and disk diagrams. The possibility to transform between the diagrams enables us to compute the Kauffman bracket skein module on an interesting class of examples consisting of inequivalent links with equivalent lifts in the $3$-sphere. The computation show that the Kauffman bracket skein module is an essential invariant, that is, it may take different values on links with equivalent lifts. We also show how the invariant is related to the Kauffman…
This paper consists of three parts. First, we generalize the Jaeger Formula to express the Kauffman-Vogel graph polynomial as a state sum of the Murakami-Ohtsuki-Yamada graph polynomial. Then, we demonstrate that reversing the orientation and the color of a MOY graph along a simple circuit does not change the sl(N) Murakami-Ohtsuki-Yamada polynomial or the sl(N) homology of this MOY graph. In fact, reversing the orientation and the color of a component of a colored link only changes the sl(N) homology by an overall grading shift. Finally, as an application of the first two parts, we prove that…
We describe the polynomial time complexity algorithm for computing first coefficients of the skein (Homflypt) and Kauffman polynomial invariants of links, discovered by D.Vertigan in 1992 but never published.
We show two results about the Conway potential function which is known as the normalized multivariable Alexander polynomial. We first show that the Conway potential function introduced by Kauffman in "Formal Knot Theory" is indeed a link invariant. Next we show that Kauffman's potential function equals Hartley's potential function. We will prove it by using Murakami's axioms for the multivariable Alexander polynomial.
Khovanov homology, an invariant of links in $\mathbb{R}^3$, is a graded homology theory that categorifies the Jones polynomial in the sense that the graded Euler characteristic of the homology is the Jones polynomial. Asaeda, Przytycki and Sikora generalized this construction by defining a double graded homology theory that categorifies the Kauffman bracket skein module of links in $I$-bundles over surfaces, except for the surface $\mathbb{R}P^2$, where the construction fails due to strange behaviour of links when projected to the non-orientable surface $\mathbb{R}P^2$. This paper categorifies…
In the present paper, we build a bridge between Conway-Coxeter friezes and rational tangles through the Kauffman bracket polynomials. One can compute a Kauffman bracket polynomials attached to rational links by using Conway-Coxeter friezes. As an application one can give a complete invariant on Conway-Coxeter friezes of zigzag-type.
In this paper, we extend the definition of a knotoid that was introduced by Turaev, to multi-linkoids that consist of a number of knot and knotoid components. We study invariants of multi-linkoids that lie in a closed orientable surface, namely the Kauffman bracket polynomial, ordered bracket polynomial, the Kauffman skein module, and the $T$-invariant in relation with generalized $Θ$-graphs.
We consider hyperbolic links that admit alternating projections on surfaces in compact, irreducible 3-manifolds. We show that, under some mild hypotheses, the volume of the complement of such a link is bounded below in terms of a Kauffman bracket function defined on link diagrams on the surface. In the case that the 3-manifold is a thickened surface, this Kauffman bracket function leads to a Jones-type polynomial that is an isotopy invariant of links. We show that coefficients of this polynomial provide 2-sided linear bounds on the volume of hyperbolic alternating links in the thickened surfac…
For a 3-manifold $M$ with boundary, we study the Kauffman module with indeterminate equal to $-1+ε$ where $ε^2=0$. We conjecture an explicit relation between this module and the Reidemeister torsion of $M$ which we prove in particular cases. As a maybe useful tool, we then introduce a notion of twisted self-linking and prove that it satisfies the Kauffman relations at first order. These questions come from considerations on asymptotics of quantum invariants.
Given any unoriented link diagram, a group of new knot invariants are constructed. Each of them satisfies a generalized 4 term skein relation. The coefficients of each invariant is from a commutative ring. Homomorphisms and representations of such a ring defines new link invariants. In this sense, they produce the well-known Kauffman bracket, the Kauffman 2-variable polynomial, and the $Q$-polynomial.
In this paper we compute the Kauffman bracket skein module of the complement of $(2, 2p+1)$-torus knots, $KBSM(T_{(2, 2p+1)}^c)$, via braids. We start by considering geometric mixed braids in $S^3$, the closure of which are mixed links in $S^3$ that represent links in the complement of $(2, 2p+1)$-torus knots, $T_{(2, 2p+1)}^c$. Using the technique of parting and combing, we obtain algebraic mixed braids, that is, mixed braids that belong to the mixed braid group $B_{2, n}$ and that are followed by their ``coset'' part, that represents $T_{(2, 2p+1)}^c$. In that way we show that links in $T_{(…
Khovanov homology offers a nontrivial generalization of Jones polynomial of links in R^3 (and of Kauffman bracket skein module of some 3-manifolds). In this chapter (Chapter X) we define Khovanov homology of links in R^3 and generalize the construction into links in an I-bundle over a surface. We use Viro's approach to construction of Khovanov homology and utilize the fact that one works with unoriented diagrams (unoriented framed links) in which case there is a simple description of Khovanov long exact sequence of homology. Khovanov homology, over the field Q, is a categorification of the Jon…
We generalize Kauffman's famous formula defining the Jones polynomial of an oriented link in 3-space from his bracket and the writhe of an oriented diagram. Our generalization is an epimorphism between skein modules of tangles in compact connected oriented 3-manifolds with markings in the boundary. Besides the usual Jones polynomial of oriented tangles we will consider graded quotients of the bracket skein module and Przytycki's q-analogue of the first homology group of a 3-manifold. In certain cases, for example for links in submanifolds of rational homology 3-spheres, we will be able to defi…
Diagrams and Reidemeister moves for links in a twisted S^1-bundle over an unorientable surface are introduced. Using these diagrams, we compute the Kauffman Bracket Skein Module (KBSM) of the connected sum of two projective spaces. In particular, we show that it has torsion. We also present a new computation of the KBSM of S^1 x S^2 and the lens spaces L(p,1).
Dye and Kauffman defined surface bracket polynomials for virtual links by use of surface states, and found a relationship between the surface states and the minimal genus of a surface in which a virtual link diagram is realized. They and Miyazawa independently defined a multivariable polynomial invariant of virtual links. This invariant is deeply related to the surface states. In this paper, we introduce the notion of surface pole bracket polynomials for link diagrams in closed surfaces, as a generalization of surface bracket polynomials by Dye and Kauffman. The polynomials induce the invarian…
We compute the vacuum expectation values of torus knot operators in Chern-Simons theory, and we obtain explicit formulae for all classical gauge groups and for arbitrary representations. We reproduce a known formula for the HOMFLY invariants of torus links and we obtain an analogous formula for Kauffman invariants. We also derive a formula for cable knots. We use our results to test a recently proposed conjecture that relates HOMFLY and Kauffman invariants.
A Kauffman bracket on a surface is an invariant for framed links in the thickened surface, satisfying the Kauffman skein relation and multiplicative under superposition. This includes representations of the skein algebra of the surface. We show how an irreducible representation of the skein algebra usually specifies a point of the character variety of homomorphisms from the fundamental group of the surface to PSL_2(C), as well as certain weights associated to the punctures of the surface. Conversely, we sketch a proof of the fact that each point of the character variety, endowed with appropria…
We give an explicit basis $\mathcal{B}$ of the quotient of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra $\mathcal{S} (Σ)$ on a surface $Σ$ by the square of an augmentation ideal. As an application, it induces two kinds of finite type invariants of links in a handle body in the sense of Le. Moreover, we construct an embedding of the mapping class group of a compact connected surface of genus $0$ into the Kauffman bracket skein algebra on the surface completed with respect to a filtration coming from the augmentation ideal.
For a ribbon graph $G$ we consider an alternating link $L_G$ in the 3-manifold $G\times I$ represented as the product of the oriented surface $G$ and the unit interval $I$. We show that the Kauffman bracket $[L_G]$ is an evaluation of the recently introduced Bollobas-Riordan polynomial $R_G$. This results generalizes the celebrated relation between Kauffman bracket and Tutte polynomial of planar graphs.
We construct an infinite family of homology theories of framed links in thickened surfaces, as well as a homology theory whose graded Euler characteristic is exactly the Kauffman bracket of the link in the surface. Both theories are based on ideas coming from Asaeda, Przytycki and Sikora's categorification of the Kauffman bracket skein module of I-bundles over surfaces. This is accomplished by borrowing ideas from Bar-Natan's Khovanov homology theory for tangles and cobordisms and using embedded surfaces to generate the chain groups, instead of diagrams.
The arrow polynomial is an invariant of framed oriented virtual links that generalizes the virtual Kauffman bracket. In this paper we define the homological arrow polynomial, which generalizes the arrow polynomial to framed oriented virtual links with labeled components. The key observation is that, given a link in a thickened surface, the homology class of the link defines a functional on the surface's skein module, and by applying it to the image of the link in the skein module this gives a virtual link invariant. We give a graphical calculus for the homological arrow polynomial by taking th…
In this survey we summarize results regarding the Kauffman bracket, HOMFLYPT, Kauffman 2-variable and Dubrovnik skein modules, and the Alexander polynomial of links in lens spaces, which we represent as mixed link diagrams. These invariants generalize the corresponding knot polynomials in the classical case. We compare the invariants by means of the ability to distinguish between some difficult cases of knots with certain symmetries.
Stoimenow and Kidwell asked the following question: Let $K$ be a non-trivial knot, and let $W(K)$ be a Whitehead double of $K$. Let $F(a,z)$ be the Kauffman polynomial and $P(v,z)$ the skein polynomial. Is then always $\max°_z P_{W(K)} - 1 = 2 \max°_z F_K$? Here this question is rephrased in more general terms as a conjectured relation between the maximum $z$-degrees of the Kauffman polynomial of an annular surface $A$ on the one hand, and the Rudolph polynomial on the other hand, the latter being defined as a certain Möbius transform of the skein polynomial of the boundary link $\partial A$. …
The aim of this paper is to define two link invariants satisfying cubic skein relations. In the hierarchy of polynomial invariants determined by explicit skein relations they are the next level of complexity after Jones, HOMFLY, Kauffman and Kuperberg's $G_2$ quantum invariants. Our method consists in the study of Markov traces on a suitable tower of quotients of cubic Hecke algebras extending Jones approach.
We propose a new, precise integrality conjecture for the colored Kauffman polynomial of knots and links inspired by large N dualities and the structure of topological string theory on orientifolds. According to this conjecture, the natural knot invariant in an unoriented theory involves both the colored Kauffman polynomial and the colored HOMFLY polynomial for composite representations, i.e. it involves the full HOMFLY skein of the annulus. The conjecture sheds new light on the relationship between the Kauffman and the HOMFLY polynomials, and it implies for example Rudolph's theorem. We provid…
