The signature function of a knot is a locally constant integer valued function with domain the unit circle. The jumps (i.e., the discontinuities) of the signature function can occur only at the roots of the Alexander polynomial on the unit circle. The latter are important in deforming U(1) representations of knot groups to irreducible SU(2) representations. Under the assumption that these roots are simple, we formulate a conjecture that explicitly computes the jumps of the signature function in terms of the Jones polynomial of a knot and its parallels. As evidence, we prove our conjecture for torus knots, and also (using computer calculations) for knots with at most 8 crossings. We also give a formula for the jump function at simple roots in terms of relative signs of Alexander polynomials.
The paper introduces Slope Conjecture which relates the degree of the Jones polynomial of a knot and its parallels with the slopes of incompressible surfaces in the knot complement. More precisely, we introduce two knot invariants, the Jones slopes (a finite set of rational numbers) and the Jones period (a natural number) of a knot in 3-space. We formulate a number of conjectures for these invariants and verify them by explicit computations for the class of alternating knots, torus knots, the knots with at most 9 crossings, and the $(-2,3,n)$ pretzel knots.
Although most knots are nonalternating, modern research in knot theory seems to focus on alternating knots. We consider here nonalternating knots and their properties. Specifically, we show certain classes of knots have nontrivial Jones polynomials.
This article gives the foundations of the colored Jones polynomial for singular knots. We extend Masbum and Vogel's algorithm to compute the colored Jones polynomial for any singular knot. We also introduce the tail of the colored Jones polynomial of singular knots and use its stability properties to prove a false theta function identity that goes back to Ramanujan.
In this paper, a method is given to calculate the Jones polynomial of the 6-plat presentations of knots by using a representation of the braid group $\mathbb{B}_6$ into a group of $5\times 5$ matrices. We also can calculate the Jones polynomial of the $2n$-plat presentations of knots by generalizing the method for the 6-plat presentations of knots.
We continue our study of the degree of the colored Jones polynomial under knot cabling started in "Knot Cabling and the Degree of the Colored Jones Polynomial" (arXiv:1501.01574). Under certain hypothesis on this degree, we determine how the Jones slopes and the linear term behave under cabling. As an application we verify Garoufalidis' Slope Conjecture and a conjecture of the authors for cables of a two-parameter family of closed 3-braids called 2-fusion knots.
Garoufalidis conjectured a relation between the boundary slopes of a knot and its colored Jones polynomials. According to the conjecture, certain boundary slopes are detected by the sequence of degrees of the colored Jones polynomials. We verify this conjecture for adequate knots, a class that vastly generalizes that of alternating knots.
We will study the asymptotic behaviors of the colored Jones polynomials of the figure-eight knot. In particular we will show that for certain limits we obtain the volumes of the cone manifolds with singularities along the knot.
The Volume conjecture claims that the hyperbolic Volume of a knot is determined by the colored Jones polynomial. The purpose of this article is to show a Volume-ish theorem for alternating knots in terms of the Jones polynomial, rather than the colored Jones polynomial: The ratio of the Volume and certain sums of coefficients of the Jones polynomial is bounded from above and from below by constants. Furthermore, we give experimental data on the relation of the growths of the hyperbolic volume and the coefficients of the Jones polynomial, both for alternating and non-alternating knots.
In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomials evaluated at roots of unity for a special class of knots. We show that certain limit is zero as predicted by the volume conjecture.
In this master thesis, I present a new family of knots in the solid torus called lassos, and their properties. Given a knot $K$ with Alexander polynomial $Δ_K(t)$, I then use these lassos as patterns to construct families of satellite knots that have Alexander polynomial $Δ_K(t^d)$ where $d\in\mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}$. In particular, I prove that if $d\in\{0,1,2,3\}$ these satellite knots have different Jones polynomials. For this purpose, I give rise to a formula for calculating the Jones polynomial of a satellite knot in terms of the Jones polynomials of its pattern and companion.
We show that for a torus knot the SL(2;C) Chern-Simons invariants and the SL(2;C) twisted Reidemeister torsions appear in an asymptotic expansion of the colored Jones polynomial. This suggests a generalization of the volume conjecture that relates the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot to the volume of the knot complement.
We establish a characterization of adequate knots in terms of the degree of their colored Jones polynomial. We show that, assuming the Strong Slope conjecture, our characterization can be reformulated in terms of "Jones slopes" of knots and the essential surfaces that realize the slopes .For alternating knots the reformulated characterization follows by recent work of J. Greene and J. Howie.
We show that from the asymptotic behavior of an evaluation of the colored Jones polynomial of the figure-eight knot we can extract the Chern--Simons invariant and the twisted Reidemeister torsion associated with a representation of the fundamental group of the knot complement to the two-dimensional complex special linear group.
The notion of chckerboard colorability for virtual links and abstract links is introduced. We study the Jones polynomials of virtual links and abstruct links. It is proved that a certain property of the Jones polynomials of classical links is valid for virtual links which admit checkerboard colorings.
We show for an alternating knot the minimal boundary slope of an essential spanning surface is given by the signature plus twice the minimum degree of the Jones polynomial and the maximal boundary slope of an essential spanning surface is given by the signature plus twice the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial. For alternating Montesinos knots, these are the minimal and maximal boundary slopes.
We calculate limits of the colored Jones polynomials of the figure-eight knot and conclude that in most cases they determine the volumes and the Chern--Simons invariants of the three-manifolds obtained by Dehn surgeries along it.
We prove that the N-colored Jones polynomial for the torus knot T_{s,t} satisfies the second order difference equation, which reduces to the first order difference equation for a case of T_{2,2m+1}. We show that the A-polynomial of the torus knot can be derived from this difference equation. Also constructed is a q-hypergeometric type expression of the colored Jones polynomial for T_{2,2m+1}.
We study the behavior of the degree of the colored Jones polynomial and the boundary slopes of knots under the operation of cabling. We show that, under certain hypothesis on this degree, if a knot $K$ satisfies the Slope Conjecture then a $(p, q)$-cable of $K$ satisfies the conjecture, provided that $p/q$ is not a Jones slope of $K$. As an application we prove the Slope Conjecture for iterated cables of adequate knots and for iterated torus knots. Furthermore we show that, for these knots, the degree of the colored Jones polynomial also determines the topology of a surface that satisfies the …
The volume conjecture and its generalization state that the series of certain evaluations of the colored Jones polynomials of a knot would grow exponentially and its growth rate would be related to the volume of a three-manifold obtained by Dehn surgery along the knot. In this paper, we show that for the figure-eight knot the series converges in some cases and the limit equals the inverse of its Alexander polynomial.
We generalize the colored Jones polynomial to $4$-valent graphs. This generalization is given as a sequence of invariants in which the first term is a one variable specialization of the Kauffman-Vogel polynomial. We use the invariant we construct to give a sequence of singular braid group representations.
In this paper we compute the signature for a family of knots $W(k,n)$, the weaving knots of type $(k,n)$. By work of E.~S.~Lee the signature calculation implies a vanishing theorem for the Khovanov homology of weaving knots. Specializing to knots $W(3,n)$, we develop recursion relations that enable us to compute the Jones polynomial of $W(3,n)$. Using additional results of Lee, we compute the ranks of the Khovanov Homology of these knots. At the end we provide evidence for our conjecture that, asymptotically, the ranks of Khovanov Homology of $W(3,n)$ are {\it normally distributed}.
This paper defines versions of the Jones polynomial and Khovanov homology by using several maps from the set of Gauss diagrams to its variant. Through calculation of some examples, this paper also shows that these versions behave differently from the original ones.
Using an involved study of the Jones polynomial, we determine, as our main result, the crossing numbers of (prime) amphicheiral knots. As further applications, we show that several classes of links, including semiadequate links and Whitehead doubles of semiadequate knots, have non-trivial Jones polynomial. We also prove that there are infinitely many positive knots with no positive minimal crossing diagrams. Some relations to the twist number of a link, Mahler measure and the hyperbolic volume are given, for example explicit upper bounds on the volume for Montesinos and 3-braid links in terms …
In this paper we investigate the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomials and the Turaev-Viro invariants for the figure eight knot. More precisely, we consider the $M$-th colored Jones polynomials evaluated at $(N+1/2)$-th root of unity with a fixed limiting ratio, $s$, of $M$ and $(N+1/2)$. We find out the asymptotic expansion formula (AEF) of the colored Jones polynomials of the figure eight knot with $s$ close to $1$. Nonetheless, we show that the exponential growth rate of the colored Jones polynomials of the figure eight knot with $s$ close to $1/2$ is strictly less than those…
We study the asymptotic behaviors of the colored Jones polynomials of torus knots. Contrary to the works by R. Kashaev, O. Tirkkonen, Y. Yokota, and the author, they do not seem to give the volumes or the Chern-Simons invariants of the three-manifolds obtained by Dehn surgeries. On the other hand it is proved that in some cases the limits give the inverse of the Alexander polynomial.
We show that the head and tail functions of the colored Jones polynomial of adequate links are the product of head and tail functions of the colored Jones polynomial of alternating links that can be read-off an adequate diagram of the link. We apply this to strengthen a theorem of Kalfagianni, Futer and Purcell on the fiberedness of adequate links.
A generalization of the volume conjecture relates the asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot to the Chern--Simons invariant and the Reidemeister torsion of the knot complement associated with a representation of the fundamental group to the special linear group of degree two over complex numbers. If the knot is hyperbolic, the representation can be regarded as a deformation of the holonomy representation that determines the complete hyperbolic structure. In this article we study a similar phenomenon when the knot is a twice-iterated torus knot. In this case, the asymptot…
It has long been known that the quadratic term in the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot is bounded above in terms of the crossing number of the knot. We show that this bound is sharp if and only if the knot is adequate. As an application of our result we determine the crossing numbers of broad families of non-adequate prime satellite knots. More specifically, we exhibit minimal crossing number diagrams for untwisted Whitehead doubles of zero-writhe adequate knots. This allows us to determine the crossing number of untwisted Whitehead doubles of any amphicheiral adequate knot, in…
Using the recent Gauss diagram formulas for Vassiliev invariants of Polyak-Viro-Fiedler and combining these formulas with the Bennequin inequality, we prove several inequalities for positive knots relating their Vassiliev invariants, genus and degrees of the Jones polynomial. As a consequence, we prove that for any of the polynomials of Alexander/Conway, Jones, HOMFLY, Brandt-Lickorish-Millett-Ho and Kauffman there are only finitely many positive knots with the same polynomial and no positive knot with trivial polynomial. We also discuss an extension of the Bennequin inequality, showing that t…
This paper is a memory of the work and influence of Vaughan Jones. It is an exposition of the remarkable breakthroughs in knot theory and low dimensional topology that were catalyzed by his work. The paper recalls the inception of the Jones polynomial and the author's discovery of the bracket polynomial model for the Jones polynomial. We then describe some of the developments in knot theory that were inspired by the Jones polynomial and involve variations and generalizations of this invariant. The paper is written in the form of a personal odyssey and with the intent to show different mathemat…
We give examples of knots with some unusual properties of the crossing number of positive diagrams or strand number of positive braid representations. In particular we show that positive braid knots may not have positive minimal (strand number) braid representations, giving a counterpart to results of Franks-Williams and Murasugi. Other examples answer questions of Cromwell on homogeneous and (partially) of Adams on almost alternating knots. We give a counterexample to, and a corrected version of a theorem of Jones on the Alexander polynomial of 4-braid knots. We also give an example of a knot…
This paper is a brief overview of recent results by the authors relating colored Jones polynomials to geometric topology. The proofs of these results appear in the papers [arXiv:1002.0256] and [arXiv:1108.3370], while this survey focuses on the main ideas and examples.
In this paper, we derive formulae for the determinant of weaving knots $W(3,n)$ and $W(p,2)$. We calculate the dimension of the first homology group with coefficients in $\mathbb{Z}_3$ of the double cyclic cover of the $3$-sphere $S^3$ branched over $W(3,n)$ and $W(p,2)$ respectively. As a consequence, we obtain a lower bound of the unknotting number of $W(3,n)$ for certain values of $n$.
We study the asymptotic behavior of the $N$-dimensional colored Jones polynomial evaluated at $\exp(ξ/N)$ for a real number $ξ$ greater than a certain constant. We prove that, from the asymptotic behavior, we can extract the $\rm{SL}(2;\mathbb{C})$ Chern--Simons invariant and the Reidemeister torsion twisted by the adjoint action both associated with a representation determined by $ξ$.
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.
We show that two Dehn surgeries on a knot $K$ never yield manifolds that are homeomorphic as oriented manifolds if $V_K''(1)\neq 0$ or $V_K'''(1)\neq 0$. As an application, we verify the cosmetic surgery conjecture for all knots with no more than $11$ crossings except for three $10$-crossing knots and five $11$-crossing knots. We also compute the finite type invariant of order $3$ for two-bridge knots and Whitehead doubles, from which we prove several nonexistence results of purely cosmetic surgery.
We point out that the strong slope conjecture implies that the degrees of the colored Jones knot polynomials detect the figure eight knot. Furthermore, we propose a characterization of alternating knots in terms of the Jones period and the degree span of the colored Jones polynomial.
We discuss the higher order stabilization of the coefficients of the colored Jones polynomial. In particular, we find an expression for the second stable sequence of the colored Jones polynomial of a certain class of knots. We also determine which knots have the same higher order stability.
We study relationships between the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial of a knot. We establish for a large class of 2-bridge knots the AJ conjecture (of Garoufalidis) that relates the colored Jones polynomial and the A-polynomial. Along the way we also calculate the Kauffman bracket skein module of all 2-bridge knots. Some properties of the colored Jones polynomial of alternating knots are established.
This work presents formulas for the Kauffman bracket and Jones polynomials of 3-bridge knots using the structure of Chebyshev knots and their billiard table diagrams. In particular, these give far fewer terms than in the Skein relation expansion. The subject is introduced by considering the easier case of 2-bridge knots, where some geometric interpretation is provided, as well, via combinatorial tiling problems.
We study near-alternating links whose diagrams satisfy conditions generalized from the notion of semi-adequate links. We extend many of the results known for adequate knots relating their colored Jones polynomials to the topology of essential surfaces and the hyperbolic volume of their complements: we show that the Strong Slope Conjecture is true for near-alternating knots with spanning Jones surfaces, their colored Jones polynomials admit stable coefficients, and the stable coefficients provide two-sided bounds on the volume of the knot complement. We also discuss extensions of these results …
We formulate a stability conjecture for the coefficients of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot, colored by irreducible representations in a fixed ray of a simple Lie algebra, and verify it for all torus knots and all simple Lie algebras of rank $2$. Our conjecture is motivated by a structure theorem for the degree and the coefficients of a $q$-holonomic sequence of polynomials given in [Ga2] and by a stability theorem of the colored Jones polynomial of an alternating knot given in \cite{GL2}. We illustrate our results with sample computations.
The noncommutative A-ideal of a knot is a generalization of the A-polynomial, defined using Kauffman bracket skein modules. In this paper we show that any knot that has the same noncommutative A-ideal as the (2,2p+1)-torus knot has the same colored Jones polynomials. This is a consequence of the orthogonality relation, which yields a recursive relation for computing all colored Jones polynomials of the knot.
We investigate coincidences of the (one-variable) Jones polynomial amongst rational knots, what we call `Jones rational coincidences'. We provide moves on the continued fraction expansion of the associated rational which we prove do not change the Jones polynomial and conjecture (based on experimental evidence from all rational knots with determinant $<900$) that these moves are sufficient to generate all Jones rational coincidences. These coincidences are generically not mutants, as is verified by checking the HOMFLYPT polynomial. In the process we give a new formula for the Jones polynomial …
In the asymptotic expansion of the hyperbolic specification of the colored Jones polynomial of torus knots, we identify different geometric contributions, in particular Chern--Simons invaraint and Reidemeister torsion.
We show that for a twist knot, the A-polynomial can be obtained from recurrences for the summand in Masbaum's formula of the colored Jones polynomial. Our result supports the AJ conjecture due to S.Garoufalidis.
Motivated by the study of ribbon knots we explore symmetric unions, a beautiful construction introduced by Kinoshita and Terasaka in 1957. For symmetric diagrams we develop a two-variable refinement $W_D(s,t)$ of the Jones polynomial that is invariant under symmetric Reidemeister moves. Here the two variables $s$ and $t$ are associated to the two types of crossings, respectively on and off the symmetry axis. From sample calculations we deduce that a ribbon knot can have essentially distinct symmetric union presentations even if the partial knots are the same. If $D$ is a symmetric union diagra…
We address the question: Does there exist a non-trivial knot with a trivial Jones polynomial? To find such a knot, it is almost certainly sufficient to find a non-trivial braid on four strands in the kernel of the Burau representation. I will describe a computer algorithm to search for such a braid.
In this paper, we investigate twist sequences for Kauffman finite-type invariants and Goussarov-Polyak-Viro finite-type invariants. It is shown that one obtains a Kauffman or GPV type of degree $\le n$ if and only if an invariant is a polynomial of degree $\le n$ on every twist lattice of the right form. The main result of this paper is an application of this technique to the coefficients of the Jones-Kauffman polynomial. It is shown that the Kauffman finite-type invariants obtained from these coefficients are not GPV finite-type invariants of any degree by explicitly showing they can never be…
We give a new upper bound on the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive link. In particular, we prove that the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial of a fibered positive knot is at most four times the minimum degree. Using this result, we can complete the classification of all knots of crossing number $\leq 12$ as positive or not positive, by showing that the seven remaining knots for which positivity was unknown are not positive. That classification was also done independently at around the same time by Stoimenow.
We proved by computer enumeration that the Jones polynomial distinguishes the unknot for knots up to 22 crossings. Following an approach of Yamada, we generated knot diagrams by inserting algebraic tangles into Conway polyhedra, computed their Jones polynomials by a divide-and-conquer method, and tested those with trivial Jones polynomials for unknottedness with the computer program SnapPy. We employed numerous novel strategies for reducing the computation time per knot diagram and the number of knot diagrams to be considered. That made computations up to 21 crossings possible on a single proc…
