We use the 2-loop term of the Kontsevich integral to show that there are (many) knots with trivial Alexander polynomial which don't have a Seifert surface whose genus equals the rank of the Seifert form. This is one of the first applications of the Kontsevich integral to intrinsically 3-dimensional questions in topology. Our examples contradict a lemma of Mike Freedman, and we explain what went wrong in his argument and why the mistake is irrelevant for topological knot concordance. References updated.
In this note, we consider the problem of constructing knot invariants from Yang-Baxter operators associated to (unitary associative) algebra structures. We first compute the enhancements of these operators. Then, we conclude that Turaev's procedure to construct knot invariants, as modified by Murakami, invariably produces from those enhanced Yang-Baxter operators the Alexander polynomial.
The theory of quandle (co)homology and cocycle knot invariants is rapidly being developed. We begin with a summary of these recent advances. One such advance is the notion of a dynamical cocycle. We show how dynamical cocycles can be used to color knotted surfaces that are obtained from classical knots by twist-spinning. We also demonstrate relations between cocycle invariants and Alexander matrices.
Defined by Joyce and Matveev, the fundamental quandle is a complete invariant of oriented classical knots. We consider invariants of knots defined from quotients of the fundamental quandle. In particular, we introduce the fundamental Latin Alexander quandle of a knot and consider its Gröbner basis-valued invariants, which generalize the Alexander polynomial. We show via example that the invariant is not determined by the generalized Alexander polynomial for virtual knots.
We introduce a new algebraic topological technique to detect non-fibred knots in the three sphere using the twisted Alexander invariants. As an application, we show that for any Seifert matrix of a knot with a nontrivial Alexander polynomial, there exist infinitely many non-fibered knots with the given Seifert matrix. We illustrate examples of knots that have trivial Alexander polynomials but do not have twisted Alexander invariants of fibred knots.
We generalize the notion of biquandles to psyquandles and use these to define invariants of oriented singular links and pseudolinks. In addition to psyquandle counting invariants, we introduce Alexander psyquandles and corresponding invariants such as Alexander psyquandle polynomials and Alexander-Gröbner psyquandle invariants of oriented singular knots and links. We consider the relationship between Alexander psyquandle colorings of pseudolinks and p-colorings of pseudolinks. As a special case we define a generalization of the Alexander polynomial for oriented singular links and pseudolinks w…
This paper deals with the study of a new family of knot invariants: the $L^2$-Alexander invariant. A main result is to give a method of computation of the $L^2$-Alexander invariant of a knot complement using any presentation of default 1 of the knot group.
We investigate the twisted Alexander polynomial of a 2-bridge knot associated to a Fox coloring. For several families of 2-bridge knots, including but not limited to, torus knots and genus-one knots, we derive formulae for these twisted Alexander polynomials. We use these formulae to confirm a conjecture of Hirasawa and Murasugi for these knots.
For knots in $S^3$, it is well-known that the Alexander polynomial of a ribbon knot factorizes as $f(t)f(t^{-1})$ for some polynomial $f(t)$. By contrast, the Alexander polynomial of a ribbon $2$-knot is not even symmetric in general. Via an alternative notion of ribbon $2$-knots, we give a topological condition on a $2$-knot that implies the factorization of the Alexander polynomial.
We calculate the twisted Alexander polynomials of all tunnel number one Montesinos knots associated to their $SL_2(\mathbb{C})$-representations and obtain their leading coefficients and degrees. As a corollary, we get some interesting examples, that is, nonfibered knots with monic Alexander polynomials which have non-monic twisted Alexander polynomials.
We prove the cosmetic crossing conjecture for genus one knots with non-trivial Alexander polynomial. We also prove the conjecture for genus one knots with trivial Alexander polynomial, under some additional assumptions.
Alexander group systems for virtual long knots are defined and used to show that any virtual knot is the closure of infinitely many long virtual knots. Manturov's result that there exists a pair of long virtual knots that do not commute is reproved.
We calculate the twisted Alexander polynomials of $(-2,3,2n+1)$-pretzel knots associated to their holonomy representations. As a corollary, we obtain new supporting evidences of Dunfield, Friedl and Jackson's conjecture, that is, the twisted Alexander polynomials of hyperbolic knots associated to their holonomy representations determine the genus and fiberedness of the knots.
In this paper, we study distribution of the zeros of the Alexander polynomials of knots and links in S^3. We call a knot or link "real stable" (resp. "circular stable") if all the zeros of its Alexander polynomial are real (resp. unit complex). We give a general construction of real stable and circular stable knots and links. We also study pairs of real stable knots and links such that the zeros of the Alexander polynomials are interlaced.
We give necessary and sufficient conditions for an integer to be the signature of a (4q-1)-knot in the (4q+1)-sphere with a given square-free Alexander polynomial.
We give lower bounds for the Gordian distance and the unknotting number of handlebody-knots by using Alexander biquandle colorings. We construct handlebody-knots with Gordian distance $n$ and unknotting number $n$ for any positive integer $n$.
Given a homomorphism from a knot group to a fixed group, we introduce an element of a $K_1$-group, which is a generalization of (twisted) Alexander polynomials. We compare this $K_1$-class with other Alexander polynomials. In terms of semi-local rings, we compute the $K_1$-classes of some knots and show their non-triviality. We also introduce metabelian Alexander polynomials.
The Alexander biquandle of a virtual knot or link is a module over a 2-variable Laurent polynomial ring which is an invariant of virtual knots and links. The elementary ideals of this module are then invariants of virtual isotopy which determine both the generalized Alexander polynomial (also known as the Sawollek polynomial) for virtual knots and the classical Alexander polynomial for classical knots. For a fixed monomial ordering $<$, the Gröbner bases for these ideals are computable, comparable invariants which fully determine the elementary ideals and which generalize and unify the classic…
We prove that for any zero α of the Alexander polynomial of a two-bridge knot, -3 < Re(α) < 6. Furthermore, for a large class of two-bridge knots we prove -1<Re(α).
Murasugi discovered two criteria that must be satisfied by the Alexander polynomial of a periodic knot. We generalize these to the case of twisted Alexander polynomials. Examples demonstrate the application of these new criteria, including to knots with trivial Alexander polynomial, such as the two polynomial 1 knots with 11 crossings. Hartley found a restrictive condition satisfied by the Alexander polynomial of any freely periodic knot. We generalize this result to the twisted Alexander polynomial and illustrate the applicability of this extension in cases in which Hartley's criterion does n…
Morifuji computed the twisted Alexander polynomial of twist knots for nonabelian representations. In this paper we compute the twisted Alexander polynomial and the Reidemeister torsion of genus one two-bridge knots, a class of knots which includes twist knots. As an application, we give a formula for the Reidemeister torsion of the 3-manifold obtained by a Dehn surgery on a genus one two-bridge knot.
Using an invariant defined by Rasmussen, we extend an argument given by Hedden and Watson which further restricts which Alexander polynomials can be realized by $L$-space knots.
Cochran defined the nth-order integral Alexander module of a knot in the three sphere as the first homology group of the knot's (n+1)th-iterated abelian cover. The case n=0 gives the classical Alexander module (and polynomial). After a localization, one can get a finitely presented module over a principal ideal domain, from which one can extract a higher-order Alexander polynomial. We present an algorithm to compute the first-order Alexander module for any knot. As applications, we show that these higher-order Alexander polynomials provide a better bound on the knot genus than does the classic…
Fox conjectured the Alexander polynomial of an alternating knot is trapezoidal, i.e. the coefficients first increase, then stabilize and finally decrease in a symmetric way. Recently, Hirasawa and Murasugi further conjectured a relation between the number of the stable coefficients in the Alexander polynomial and the signature invariant. In this paper we prove the Hirasawa-Murasugi conjecture for two-bridge knots.
We define a family of virtual knots generalizing the classical twist knots. We develop a recursive formula for the Alexander polynomial $Δ_0$ (as defined by Silver and Williams) of these virtual twist knots. These results are applied to provide evidence for a conjecture that the odd writhe of a virtual knot can be obtained from $Δ_0$.
For a fibered knot in the 3-sphere the twisted Alexander polynomial associated to an SL(2,C)-character is known to be monic. It is conjectured that for a nonfibered knot there is a curve component of the SL(2,C)-character variety containing only finitely many characters whose twisted Alexander polynomials are monic, i.e. finiteness of such characters detects fiberedness of knots. In this paper we discuss the existence of a certain curve component which relates to the conjecture when knots have nonmonic Alexander polynomials. We also discuss the similar problem of detecting the knot genus.
We call a knot $K$ a complete Alexander neighbor if every possible Alexander polynomial is realized by a knot one crossing change away from $K$. It is unknown whether there exists a complete Alexander neighbor with nontrivial Alexander polynomial. We eliminate infinite families of knots with nontrivial Alexander polynomial from having this property and discuss possible strategies for unresolved cases. Additionally, we use a condition on determinants of knots one crossing change away from unknotting number one knots to improve KnotInfo's unknotting number data on 11 and 12 crossing knots. Licko…
We calculate the twisted Alexander polynomial with the adjoint action for torus knots and twist knots. As consequences of these calculations, we obtain the formula for the nonabelian Reidemeister torsion of torus knots in \cite{Du} and a formula for the nonabelian Reidemeister torsion of twist knots that is better than the one in \cite{DHY}.
We show that if a co-dimension two knot is deform-spun from a lower-dimensional co-dimension 2 knot, there are constraints on the Alexander polynomials. In particular this shows, for all n, that not all co-dimension 2 knots in S^n are deform-spun from knots in S^{n-1}.
This paper gives an algebraic characterization of Alexander polynomials of equivariant ribbon knots and a factorization condition satisfied by Alexander polynomials of equivariant slice knots.
We study the twisted Alexander polynomial from the viewpoint of the SL(2,C)-character variety of nonabelian representations of a knot group. It is known that if a knot is fibered, then the twisted Alexander polynomials associated with nonabelian SL(2,C)-representations are all monic. In this paper, we show that the converse holds for 2-bridge knots. Furthermore we show that for a 2-bridge knot there exists a curve component in the SL(2,C)-character variety such that if the knot is not fibered then there are only finitely many characters in the component for which the associated twisted Alexand…
Given a virtual knot $K$, we construct a group $VG_K$ called the virtual knot group, and we use the elementary ideals of $VG_K$ to define invariants of $K$ called the virtual Alexander invariants. For instance, associated to the $k=0$ ideal is a polynomial $H_K(s,t,q)$ in three variables which we call the virtual Alexander polynomial, and we show that it is closely related to the generalized Alexander polynomial $G_K(s,t)$ introduced by Sawollek, Kauffman-Radford, and Silver-Williams. We define a natural normalization of the virtual Alexander polynomial and show it satisfies a skein formula. W…
Ozsváth-Szabó proved the property that any coefficient of Alexander polynomial of lens space knot is either $\pm1$ or $0$ and the non-zero coefficients are alternating. Combining the formulas of the Alexander polynomial of lens space knots due to Kadokami-Yamada and Ichihara-Saito-Teragaito, we refine Ozsváth-Szabó's property as the existence of simple curves included in a region in ${\Bbb R}^2$. The existence of curves, that has no end-points connected, is just 1-component in a region, can search distribution of non-zero coefficients of the Alexander polynomial of the lens space knot. This cu…
In this paper we will study properties of twisted Alexander polynomials of knots corresponding to metabelian representations. In particular we answer a question of Wada about the twisted Alexander polynomial associated to the tensor product of two representations, and we settle several conjectures of Hirasawa and Murasugi.
We revisit the issue of the existence of infinitely many distinct prime knots with the same Alexander invariant. We present infinitely many distinct families, each family made up of infinitely many distinct knots. Within each family, the Alexander invariant is the same. Unlike other examples in the literature, ours are elementary and based on a sub-collection of pretzel knots with three tassels.
Suppose the knot group G(K) of a knot K has a non-abelian representation ρon A_4 \subset GL(4,Z). We conjecture that the twisted Alexander polynomial of K associated to ρis of the form: Δ_K(t)/(1-t) ϕ(t^3), where Δ_K (t) is the Alexander polynomial of K and ϕ(t^3) is an integer polynomial in t^3. We prove the conjecture for 2-bridge knots K whose group G(K) can be mapped onto a free product Z/2*Z/3. Later, we discuss more general metabelian representations of the knot groups and propose a similar conjecture on the form of the twisted Alexander polynomials.
Twisted Alexander polynomials of a knot for group extensions
Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University（京都大学数学科学研究所）；Department of Mathematics, Hiyoshi Campus, Keio University（庆应义塾大学日吉校区数学系）；Department of Frontier Media Science, Meiji University（明治大学前沿媒体科学系）
There are many studies about twisted Alexander invariants for knots and links, but calculations of twisted Alexander invariants for spatial graphs, handlebody-knots, and surface-links have not been demonstrated well. In this paper, we give some remarks to calculate the twisted Alexander ideals for spatial graphs, handlebody-knots and surface-links, and observe their behaviors. For spatial graphs, we calculate the invariants of Suzuki's theta-curves and show that the invariants are nontrivial for Suzuki's theta-curves whose Alexander ideals are trivial. For handlebody-knots, we give a remark on…
The Alexander polynomial of a knot has been generalized in three different ways to give twisted invariants. The resulting invariants are usually referred to as twisted Alexander polynomials, higher-order Alexander polynomials and $L^2$-Alexander invariants of knots. We quickly recall the definitions and we summarize and compare some of their properties. We also report on work by the authors on $L^2$-Alexander torsions and we conclude the paper with several conjectures on $L^2$-Alexander torsions.
In this paper we present a sequence of link invariants, defined from twisted Alexander polynomials, and discuss their effectiveness in distinguish knots. In particular, we recast and extend by geometric means a recent result of Silver and Williams on the nontriviality of twisted Alexander polynomials for nontrivial knots. Furthermore building on results in [FV06b] we prove that these invariants decide if a genus one knot is fibered, and we also show that these invariants distinguish all mutants with up to 12 crossings.
In this paper we show that the twisted Alexander polynomial associated to a parabolic representation determines fiberedness and genus of a wide class of 2-bridge knots. As a corollary we give an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Dunfield, Friedl and Jackson for infinitely many hyperbolic knots.
For a knot K, the concordance crosscap number, c(K), is the minimum crosscap number among all knots concordant to K. Building on work of G. Zhang, which studied the determinants of knots with c(K) < 2, we apply the Alexander polynomial to construct new algebraic obstructions to c(K) < 2. With the exception of low crossing number knots previously known to have c(K) < 2, the obstruction applies to all but four prime knots of 11 or fewer crossings.
We give a new interpretation of the Alexander polynomial $Δ_0$ for virtual knots due to Sawollek and Silver and Williams, and use it to show that, for any virtual knot, $Δ_0$ determines the writhe polynomial of Cheng and Gao (equivalently, Kauffman's affine index polynomial). We also use it to define a second-order writhe polynomial, and give some applications.
We prove that the instanton knot homology KHI(K) as defined by Kronheimer and Mrowka (Knots, sutures and excision, preprint), recovers the Alexander polynomial for knots K in the 3-sphere.
In this paper we investigate the Alexander polynomial of (1,1)-knots, which are knots lying in a 3-manifold with genus one at most, admitting a particular decomposition. More precisely, we study the connections between the Alexander polynomial and a polynomial associated to a cyclic presentation of the fundamental group of an n-fold strongly-cyclic covering branched over the knot, which we call the n-cyclic polynomial. In this way, we generalize to all (1,1)-knots, with the only exception of those lying in S^2\times S^1, a result obtained by J. Minkus for 2-bridge knots and extended by the aut…
We show that there exists a $\mathbb{Z}^\infty$-summand in the subgroup of the knot concordance group generated by knots with trivial Alexander polynomial. To this end we use the invariant Upsilon $Υ$ recently introduced by Ozsváth, Stipsicz and Szabó using knot Floer homology. We partially compute $Υ$ of $(n,1)$-cable of the Whitehead double of the trefoil knot. For this computation of $Υ$, we determine a sufficient condition for two satellite knots to have identical $Υ$ for any pattern with nonzero winding number.
As a generalization of a classical result on the Alexander polynomial for fibered knots, we show in this paper that the Reidemeister torsion associated to a certain representation detects fiberedness of knots in the three sphere.
