Monopole Floer homology is used to prove that real projective three-space cannot be obtained from Dehn surgery on a non-trivial knot in the three-sphere. To obtain this result, we use a surgery long exact sequence for monopole Floer homology, together with a non-vanishing theorem, which shows that monopole Floer homology detects the unknot. In addition, we apply these techniques to give information about knots which admit lens space surgeries, and to exhibit families of three-manifolds which do not admit taut foliations.
We obtain some obstructions to existence of Legendrian surgeries between tight lens spaces. We also study Legendrian surgeries between overtwisted contact manifolds.
In an earlier paper, we used the absolute grading on Heegaard Floer homology to give restrictions on knots in $S^3$ which admit lens space surgeries. The aim of the present article is to exhibit stronger restrictions on such knots, arising from knot Floer homology. One consequence is that all the non-zero coefficients of the Alexander polynomial of such a knot are $\pm 1$. This information in turn can be used to prove that certain lens spaces are not obtained as integral surgeries on knots. In fact, combining our results with constructions of Berge, we classify lens spaces $L(p,q)$ which arise…
We show that every tight contact structure on any of the lens spaces $L(ns^2-s+1,s^2)$ with $n\geq 2$, $s\geq 1$, can be obtained by a single Legendrian surgery along a suitable Legendrian realisation of the negative torus knot $T(s,-(sn-1))$ in the tight or an overtwisted contact structure on the 3-sphere.
We describe necessary and sufficient conditions for a knot in an L-space to have an L-space homology sphere surgery. We use these conditions to reformulate a conjecture of Berge about which knots in S^3 admit lens space surgeries.
We complete the first step in a two-part program proposed by Baker, Grigsby, and the author to prove that Berge's construction of knots in the three-sphere which admit lens space surgeries is complete. The first step, which we prove here, is to show that a knot in a lens space with a three-sphere surgery has simple (in the sense of rank) knot Floer homology. The second (conjectured) step involves showing that, for a fixed lens space, the only knots with simple Floer homology belong to a simple finite family. Using results of Baker, we provide evidence for the conjectural part of the program by…
We show that lens space surgeries on knots in $S^3$ which arise from the primitive/Seifert type construction also arise from the primitive/primitive construction. This is the first step of a three step program to prove the Berge conjecture for tunnel number one knots.
We determine lens surgeries (i.e.\ Dehn surgery yielding a lens space) along the $n$-twisted Whitehead link. To do so, we first give necessary conditions to yield a lens space from the Alexander polynomial of the link as: (1) $n=1$ (i.e. the Whitehead link), and (2) one of surgery coefficients is 1, 2 or 3. Our interests are not only lens surgery itself but also how to apply the Alexander polynomial for this kind of problems.
Let K be a non-trivial knot in the 3-sphere with a lens space surgery and L(p,q) a lens space obtained by a Dehn surgery on K. We study a relationship between the order of the fundamental group of L(p,q) and the Seifert genus of K.
In this paper, we study distance one surgeries between lens spaces $L(p,1)$ with $p \geq 5$ prime and lens spaces $L(n,1)$ for $n \in \mathbb{Z}$ and band surgeries from $T(2,p)$ to $T(2,n)$. In particular, we prove that $L(n,1)$ is obtained by a distance one surgery from $L(5,1)$ only if $n=\pm 1$, $4$, $\pm 5$, $6$ or $\pm 9$, and $L(n,1)$ is obtained by a distance one surgery from $L(7,1)$ if and only if $n=\pm 1$, $3$, $6$, $7$, $8$ or $11$.
This is a facsimile of the circa 1990 unpublished manuscript with the same title. All the original text, figures and tables are included; although text has been reset in \TeX, the original hand-drawn figures have been redrawn digitally, and the parameter $k$ in the original table of lens spaces has been replaced with the originally intended $λ$. And, of course, this abstract has been added.
Using work of Ozsvath and Szabo, we show that if a nontrivial knot in S^3 admits a lens space surgery with slope p, then p <= 4g+3, where g is the genus of the knot. This is a close approximation to a bound conjectured by Goda and Teragaito.
It is known by the author that there exist 20 families of Dehn surgeries in the Poincaré homology sphere yielding lens spaces. In this paper, we give the concrete knot diagrams of the families and extend them to families of lens space surgeries in Brieskorn homology spheres. We illustrate families of lens space surgeries in $Σ(2,3,6n\pm1)$ and $Σ(2,2s+1,2(2s+1)n\pm1)$ and so on. As other examples, we give lens space surgeries in graph homology spheres, which are obtained by splicing two Brieskorn homology spheres.
Let $K$ be a hyperbolic knot in the 3-sphere. If $r$-surgery on $K$ yields a lens space, then we show that the order of the fundamental group of the lens space is at most $12g-7$, where $g$ is the genus of $K$. If we specialize to genus one case, it will be proved that no lens space can be obtained from genus one, hyperbolic knots by Dehn surgery. Therefore, together with known facts, we have that a genus one knot $K$ admits Dehn surgery yielding a lens space if and only if $K$ is the trefoil.
We prove a Smith-type inequality for regular covering spaces in monopole Floer homology. Using the monopole Floer / Heegaard Floer correspondence, we deduce that if a 3-manifold Y admits a p^n-sheeted regular cover that is a Z/pZ-L-space (for p prime), then Y is a Z/pZ-L-space. Further, we obtain constraints on surgeries on a knot being regular covers over other surgeries on the same knot, and over surgeries on other knots.
It is proved that every knot in the major subfamilies of J. Berge's lens space surgery (i.e., knots yielding a lens space by Dehn surgery) is presented by an L-shaped (real) plane curve as a "divide knot" defined by N. A'Campo in the context of singularity theory of complex curves. For each knot given by Berge's parameters, the corresponding plane curve is constructed. The surgery coefficients are also considered. Such presentations support us to study each knot itself, and the relationship among the knots in the set of lens space surgeries.
We study lens space surgeries along two different families of 2-component links, denoted by $A_{m,n}$ and $B_{p,q}$, related with the rational homology 4-ball used in J.\ Park's (generalized) rational blow down. We determine which coefficient $r$ of the knotted component of the link yields a lens space by Dehn surgery. The link $A_{m,n}$ yields a lens space only by the known surgery with $r=mn$ and unexpectedly with $r=7$ for $(m,n)=(2,3)$. On the other hand, $B_{p,q}$ yields a lens space by infinitely many $r$. Our main tool for the proof is the Reidemeister-Turaev torsions, i.e.\ Reidemeiste…
We use monopole Floer homology for sutured manifolds to construct invariants of Legendrian knots in a contact 3-manifold. These invariants assign to a knot K in Y elements of the monopole knot homology KHM(-Y,K), and they strongly resemble the knot Floer homology invariants of Lisca, Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó. We prove several vanishing results, investigate their behavior under contact surgeries, and use this to construct many examples of non-loose knots in overtwisted 3-manifolds. We also show that these invariants are functorial with respect to Lagrangian concordance.
We exhibit an infinite family of knots in the Poincare homology sphere with tunnel number 2 that have a lens space surgery. Notably, these knots are not doubly primitive and provide counterexamples to a few conjectures. In the appendix, it is shown that hyperbolic knots in the Poincare homology sphere with a lens space surgery has either no symmetries or just a single strong involution.
Following the classification of genus one fibered knots in lens spaces by Baker, we determine hyperbolic genus one fibered knots in lens spaces on whose all integral Dehn surgeries yield closed 3-manifolds with left-orderable fundamental groups.
This paper describes a Dehn surgery approach to generating asymmetric hyperbolic manifolds with two distinct lens space fillings. Such manifolds were first identified in work of Dunfield-Hoffman-Licata as the result of a computer search of the SnapPy census, but the current work establishes a topological framework for constructing vastly many more such examples. We introduce the notion of a ``jointly primitive'' presentation of a knot and show that a refined version of this condition ``longitudinally jointly primitive'' is equivalent to being surgery dual to a $(1,2)$--knot in a lens space. Th…
Baker showed that 10 of the 12 classes of Berge knots are obtained by surgery on the minimally twisted 5-chain link. In this article we enumerate all hyperbolic knots in S^3 obtained by surgery on the minimally twisted 5 chain link that realize the maximal known distances between slopes corresponding to exceptional (lens, lens), (lens, toroidal), (lens, Seifert fibred spaces) pairs. In light of Baker's work, the classification in this paper conjecturally accounts for 'most' hyperbolic knots in S^3 realizing the maximal distance between these exceptional pairs. All examples obtained in our clas…
We propose a classification of knots in S^1 x S^2 that admit a longitudinal surgery to a lens space. Any lens space obtainable by longitudinal surgery on some knots in S^1 x S^2 may be obtained from a Berge-Gabai knot in a Heegaard solid torus of S^1 x S^2, as observed by Rasmussen. We show that there are yet two other families of knots: those that lie on the fiber of a genus one fibered knot and the `sporadic' knots. All these knots in S^1 x S^2 are both doubly primitive and spherical braids. This classification arose from generalizing Berge's list of doubly primitive knots in S^3, though we …
A rational homology sphere whose Heegaard Floer homology is the same as that of a lens space is called an L-space. We classify pretzel knots with any number of tangles which admit L-space surgeries. This rests on Gabai's classification of fibered pretzel links.
Let $M_λ$ be the $λ$-component Milnor link. For $λ\ge 3$, we determine completely when a finite slope surgery along $M_λ$ yields a lens space including $S^3$ and $S^1\times S^2$, where {\it finite slope surgery} implies that a surgery coefficient of every component is not $\infty$. For $λ=3$ (i.e.\ the Borromean rings), there are three infinite sequences of finite slope surgeries yielding lens spaces. For $λ\ge 4$, any finite slope surgery does not yield a lens space. As a corollary, $M_λ$ for $λ\ge 3$ does not yield both $S^3$ and $S^1\times S^2$ by any finite slope surgery. We generalize the…
We prove that if the lens space $L(n, 1)$ is obtained by a surgery along a knot in the lens space $L(3,1)$ that is distance one from the meridional slope, then $n$ is in $\{-6, \pm 1, \pm 2, 3, 4, 7\}$. This result yields a classification of the coherent and non-coherent band surgeries from the trefoil to $T(2, n)$ torus knots and links. The main result is proved by studying the behavior of the Heegaard Floer $d$-invariants under integral surgery along knots in $L(3,1)$. The classification of band surgeries between the trefoil and torus knots and links is motivated by local reconnection proces…
We prove the existence of an exact triangle for the Pin(2)-monopole Floer homology groups of three manifolds related by specific Dehn surgeries on a given knot. Unlike the counterpart in usual monopole Floer homology, only two of the three maps are those induced by the corresponding elementary cobordism. We use this triangle to describe the invariants associated to homology spheres obtained by (\pm1)-surgery on alternating knots.
We examine certain symmetries in the deficiencies of a rational surgery on a knot in $S^3$ by comparing the $\text{Spin}^c$-structures on the rational surgery with those on a related integral surgery. We then provide an application of these symmetries in the form of a theorem that obstructs Dehn surgeries in $S^3$. This last part unifies and generalises theorems by Greene underlying his work on the cabling conjecture, the lens space realisation problem, and the unknotting number of alternating 3-braids.
The Cabling Conjecture states that surgery on hyperbolic knots in $S^3$ never produces reducible manifolds. In contrast, there do exist hyperbolic knots in some lens spaces with non-prime surgeries. Baker constructed a family of such hyperbolic knots and posed a conjecture that his examples encompass all hyperbolic knots in lens spaces with non-prime surgeries. Using the idea of seiferters we construct a counterexample to this conjecture. In the process of construction, we also derive an obstruction for a small Seifert fibred space to be obtainable by a surgery with a seiferter.
Greene, Lewallen and Vafaee characterized $(1,1)$ L-space knots in $S^3$ and lens space in the notation of coherent reduced $(1,1)$-diagrams. We analyze these diagrams, and deduce an explicit description of these knots. With the new description, we prove that any L-space obtained by Dehn surgery on a $(1,1)$-knot in $S^3$ has non-left-orderable fundamental group.
We prove that if positive integer p-surgery along a knot K \subset S^3 produces an L-space and it bounds a sharp 4-manifold, then the knot genus obeys the bound 2g(K) -1 \leq p - \sqrt{3p+1}. Moreover, there exists an infinite family of pairs (K_n,p_n) attaining this bound, where K_n denotes an n-fold iterated cable of the unknot and p_n \to \infty. In particular, the stated bound applies when the knot surgery produces a lens space or a connected sum thereof. Combined with work of Gordon-Luecke, Hoffman, and Matignon-Sayari, it follows that if surgery along a knot produces a connected sum of l…
We unify two existing approaches to the tau invariants in instanton and monopole Floer theories, by identifying $τ_{\mathrm{G}}$, defined by the second author via the minus flavors $\underline{\operatorname{KHI}}^-$ and $\underline{\operatorname{KHM}}^-$ of the knot homologies, with $τ_{\mathrm{G}}^{\sharp}$, defined by Baldwin and Sivek via cobordism maps of the $3$-manifold homologies induced by knot surgeries. We exhibit several consequences, including a relationship with Heegaard Floer theory, and use our result to compute $\underline{\operatorname{KHI}}^-$ and $\underline{\operatorname{KH…
We determine the non-null homologous knots in lens spaces whose exteriors contain properly embedded once-punctured tori. All such knots arise as surgeries on the Whitehead link and are grid number 1 in their lens spaces. As a corollary, we classify once-punctured torus bundles that admit a lens space filling.
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…
It is well-known that any pair of closed orientable 3-manifolds are related by a finite sequence of Dehn surgeries on knots. Furthermore Kawauchi showed that such knots can be taken to be hyperbolic. In this article, we consider the minimal length of such sequences connecting a pair of 3-manifolds, in particular, a pair of lens spaces.
Given a one-dimensional homology class in a lens space, a question related to the Berge conjecture on lens space surgeries is to determine all knots realizing the minimal rational genus of all knots in this homology class. It is known that simple knots are rational genus minimizers. In this paper, we construct many non-simple genus minimizers. This negatively answers a question of Rasmussen.
(Original version of PhD thesis, submitted in Spring 2009 to Harvard University. Provides a solution of the $p > k^2$ case, corresponding to Berge families I-VI, of the "Lens space realization problem" later solved in entirety by Greene.) In the 1980's, Berge proved that a certain collection of knots in $S^3$ admitted lens space surgeries, a list which Gordon conjectured was exhaustive. More recently, J. Rasmussen used techniques from Heegaard Floer homology to translate the related problem of classifying simple knots in lens spaces admitting L-space homology sphere surgeries into a combinator…
We define combinatorial invariants of Legendrian and transverse links in universally tight lens spaces using grid diagrams, generalizing [OST08] and prove that they are equivalent to the invariants defined in [BVVV13] and [LOSS09]. We use these combinatorial invariants to characterize index one grid diagrams for knots in lens spaces which admit surgeries to the 3-sphere and discuss a potential application to the Berge conjecture.
By recent results of Baker--Etnyre--Van Horn-Morris, a rational open book decomposition defines a compatible contact structure. We show that the Heegaard Floer contact invariant of such a contact structure can be computed in terms of the knot Floer homology of its (rationally null-homologous) binding. We then use this description of contact invariants, together with a formula for the knot Floer homology of the core of a surgery solid torus, to show that certain manifolds obtained by surgeries on bindings of open books carry tight contact structures. Possible applications to lens space surgerie…
Similar to knots in S^3, any knot in a lens space has a grid diagram from which one can combinatorially compute all of its knot Floer homology invariants. We give an explicit description of the generators, differentials, and rational Maslov and Alexander gradings in terms of combinatorial data on the grid diagram. Motivated by existing results for the Floer homology of knots in S^3 and the similarity of the combinatorics presented here, we conjecture that a certain family of knots is characterized by their Floer homology. Coupled with work of the third author, an affirmative answer to this wou…
We characterize the (1, 1) knots in the three-sphere and lens spaces that admit non-trivial L-space surgeries. As a corollary, 1-bridge braids in these manifolds admit non- trivial L-space surgeries. We also recover a characterization of the Berge manifold amongst 1-bridge braid exteriors.
Closed 3-string braids admit many bandings to two-bridge links. By way of the Montesinos Trick, this allows us to construct infinite families of knots in the connected sum of lens spaces L(r,1) # L(s,1) that admit a surgery to a lens space for all pairs of integers (r,s) except (0,0). These knots are typically hyperbolic. We also demonstrate that the previously known two families of examples of hyperbolic knots in non-prime manifolds with lens space surgeries of Eudave-Munoz--Wu and Kang all fit this construction. As such, we propose a generalization of the Cabling Conjecture of Gonzales-Acuna…
To a link L in the 3-sphere, we associate a spectral sequence whose E^2 page is the reduced Khovanov homology of L and which converges to a version of the monopole Floer homology of the branched double cover. The pages E^k for k > 1 depend only on the mutation equivalence class of L. We define a mod 2 grading on the spectral sequence which interpolates between the delta-grading on Khovanov homology and the mod 2 grading on Floer homology. We also derive a new formula for link signature that is well-adapted to Khovanov homology. More generally, we construct new bigraded invariants of a framed l…
Supose that $Y$ is a lens space with $|H_1(Y; \mathbb{Z})|$ prime, and $Y$ does not contain a genus one fibered knot. We show that $Y$ contains a knot whose exterior is a once-punctured torus bundle if and only if $Y$ is the result of $p/q$-surgery on the trefoil. This partially answers a question posed by Ken Baker in a paper in which he gives a complete classification of genus one fibered knots contained in lens spaces. Combining Baker's classification with Moser's characterization of lens space surgeries on the trefoil, we generate an infinite family of lens spaces which do not contain any …
For a 3-manifold with torus boundary admitting an appropriate involution, we show that Khovanov homology provides obstructions to certain exceptional Dehn fillings. For example, given a strongly invertible knot in S^3, we give obstructions to lens space surgeries, as well as obstructions to surgeries with finite fundamental group. These obstructions are based on homological width in Khovanov homology, and in the case of finite fundamental group depend on a calculation of the homological width for a family of Montesinos links.
This thesis is concerned with the question of when the double branched cover of an alternating knot can arise by Dehn surgery on a knot in $S^3$. We approach this problem using a surgery obstruction, first developed by Greene, which combines Donaldson's Diagonalization Theorem with the $d$-invariants of Ozsv{á}th and Szab{ó}'s Heegaard Floer homology. This obstruction shows that if the double branched cover of an alternating knot or link $L$ arises by surgery on $S^3$, then for any alternating diagram the lattice associated to the Goeritz matrix takes the form of a changemaker lattice. By anal…
We continue our study of the knot Floer homology invariants of cable knots. For large |n|, we prove that many of the filtered subcomplexes in the knot Floer homology filtration associated to the (p,pn+1) cable of a knot, K, are isomorphic to those of K. This result allows us to obtain information about the behavior of the Ozsvath-Szabo concordance invariant under cabling, which has geometric consequences for the cabling operation. Applications considered include quasipositivity in the braid group, the knot theory of complex curves, smooth concordance, and lens space (or, more generally, L-spac…
We consider the question of when a rational homology 3-sphere is rational homology cobordant to a connected sum of lens spaces. We prove that every rational homology cobordism class in the subgroup generated by lens spaces is represented by a unique connected sum of lens spaces whose first homology embeds in any other element in the same class. As a first consequence, we show that several natural maps to the rational homology cobordism group have infinite rank cokernels. Further consequences include a divisibility condition between the determinants of a connected sum of 2-bridge knots and any …
By obtaining surgery descriptions of knots which lie on the genus one fiber of the trefoil or figure eight knot, we show that these include hyperbolic knots with arbitrarily large volume. These knots admit lens space surgeries and form two families of Berge knots. By way of tangle descriptions we also obtain surgery descriptions for these knots on minimally twisted chain links.
