The Gassner representation of the pure braid group to $GL_n(Z[Z^n])$ can be extended to give a representation of the concordance group of $n$-strand string links to $GL_n(F)$, where $F$ is the field of quotients of $\zz[\zz^n]$, $ F = Q(t_1,...,t_n)$; this was first observed by Le Dimet. Here we present simple new perspectives on its definition, its computation, and its applications to obtain both general results and interesting family of examples.
Ihara initiated to study a certain Galois representation which may be seen as an arithmetic analogue of the Artin representation of a pure braid group. We pursue the analogies in Ihara theory further, following after some issues and their inter-relations in the theory of braids and links such as Milnor invariants, Johnson homomorphisms, Magnus-Gassner cocycles and Alexander invariants, and study relations with arithmetic in Ihara theory.
Cobordism of virtual string links on $n$ strands is a combinatorial generalization of link cobordism. There exists a bijection between virtual string links up to cobordisms and elements of the group $\mathbb{Z}^{n(n-1)}$. This paper also shows that virtual string links up to unwelded equivalence are classified by those groups. Finally, the related theory of welded string link cobordism is defined herein and shown to be trivial for string links with one component.
Two string links are equivalent up to $2n$-moves and link-homotopy if and only if their all Milnor link-homotopy invariants are congruent modulo $n$. Moreover, the set of the equivalence classes forms a finite group generated by elements of order $n$. The classification induces that if two string links are equivalent up to $2n$-moves for every $n>0$, then they are link-homotopic.
Habegger and Lin gave a classification of the link-hmotopy classes of links as the link-homotopy classes of string links modulo the actions of conjugations and partial conjugations for string links. In this paper, we calculated the actions of the partial conjugations and the conjugations explicitly for 4- and 5-component string links which gave classifications (presentations) of the link-homotopy classes of 4- and 5-component links. As an application, we can run Habegger and Lin's algorithm which determines whether given two links are link-homotopoic or not for 4- and 5-component links.
We show that the Casson knot invariant, linking number and Milnor's triple linking number, together with a certain 2-string link invariant $V_2$, are necessary and sufficient to express any string link Vassiliev invariant of order two. Explicit combinatorial formulas are given for these invariants. This result is applied to the theory of claspers for string links.
In this paper we investigate the virtual string links via a probabilistic interpretation. This representation can be used to distinguish some virtual string links from classical string links. In order to study the algebraic structure behind this probabilistic interpretation we introduce the notion of virtual flat biquandle. The cocycle invariants associated with virtual flat biquandle is discussed.
We show that the map obtained by viewing a geometric (ie. representative) braid as a string link induces an isomorphism of the n-strand braid group onto the group of units of the n-strand string link monoid.
In this paper, we give a complete set of finite type string link invariants of degree <5. In addition to Milnor invariants, these include several string link invariants constructed by evaluating knot invariants on certain closure of (cabled) string links. We show that finite type invariants classify string links up to C_k-moves for k<6, which proves, at low degree, a conjecture due to Goussarov and Habiro. We also give a similar characterization of finite type concordance invariants of degree <6.
In this paper we use 3-manifold techniques to illuminate the structure of the string link monoid. In particular, we give a prime decomposition theorem for string links on two components as well as give necessary conditions for string links to commute under the stacking operation.
In a previous paper, the authors proved that Milnor link-homotopy invariants modulo $n$ classify classical string links up to $2n$-move and link-homotopy. As analogues to the welded case, in terms of Milnor invariants, we give here two classifications of welded string links up to $2n$-move and self-crossing virtualization, and up to $V^{n}$-move and self-crossing virtualization, respectively.
We extend the notion of intersection graphs for knots in the theory of finite type invariants to string links. We use our definition to develop weight systems for string links via the adjacency matrix of the intersection graph, and show that these weight systems are related to the weight systems induced by the Conway and Homfly polynomials.
We show that the exterior powers of the matrix valued random walk invariant of string links, introduced by Lin, Tian, and Wang, are isomorphic to the graded components of the tangle functor associated to the Alexander Polynomial by Ohtsuki divided by the zero graded invariant of the functor. Several resulting properties of these representations of the string link monoids are discussed.
We extend knot Floer homology to string links in D^{2} \times I and to d-based links in arbitrary three manifolds, without any hypothesis on the null-homology of the components. As for knot Floer homology we obtain a description of the Euler characteristic of the resulting homology groups (in D^{2} \times I) in terms of the torsion of the string link. Additionally, a state summation approach is described using the equivalent of Kauffman states. Furthermore, we examine the situtation for braids, prove that for alternating string links the Euler characteristic determines the homology, and develo…
In this paper we study further when tangles embed into the unknot, the unlink or a split link. In particular, we study obstructions to these properties through geometric characterizations, tangle sums and colorings. As an application we determine when each prime 2-string tangle with up to seven crossings embeds into the unknot, the unlink or a split link.
We study the Goussarov-Habiro finite type invariants theory for framed string links in homology balls. Their degree 1 invariants are computed: they are given by Milnor's triple linking numbers, the mod 2 reduction of the Sato-Levine invariant, Arf and Rochlin's $μ$ invariant. These invariants are seen to be naturally related to invariants of homology cylinders through the so-called Milnor-Johnson correspondence: in particular, an analogue of the Birman-Craggs homomorphism for string links is computed. The relation with Vassiliev theory is studied.
We employ Hirzebruch-type invariants obtained from iterated p-covers to investigate concordance of links and string links. We show that the invariants naturally give various group homomorphisms of the string link concordance group into L-groups over number fields. We also obtain homomorphisms of successive quotients of the Cochran-Orr-Teichner filtration. As an application we show that the kernel of Harvey's $ρ_n$-invariant is large enough to contain a subgroup with infinite rank abelianization, modulo local knots. As another application, we show that recently discovered nontrivial 2-torsion e…
Ribbon tangles are proper embeddings of tori and cylinders in the $4$-ball~$B^4$, "bounding" $3$-manifolds with only ribbon disks as singularities. We construct an Alexander invariant $\mathsf{A}$ of ribbon tangles equipped with a representation of the fundamental group of their exterior in a free abelian group $G$. This invariant induces a functor in a certain category $\mathsf{R}ib_G$ of tangles, which restricts to the exterior powers of Burau-Gassner representation for ribbon braids, that are analogous to usual braids in this context. We define a circuit algebra $\mathsf{C}ob_G$ over the op…
We publish a table of primitive finite-type invariants of order less than or equal to six, for knots of ten or fewer crossings. We note certain mod-2 congruences, one of which leads to a chirality criterion in the Alexander polynomial. We state a computational result on mod-2 finite-type invariants of 2-strand string links.
Ribbon 2-knotted objects are locally flat embeddings of surfaces in 4-space which bound immersed 3-manifolds with only ribbon singularities. They appear as topological realizations of welded knotted objects, which is a natural quotient of virtual knot theory. In this paper we consider ribbon tubes and ribbon torus-links, which are natural analogues of string links and links, respectively. We show how ribbon tubes naturally act on the reduced free group, and how this action classifies ribbon tubes up to link-homotopy, that is when allowing each component to cross itself. At the combinatorial le…
We show that the Artin representation on concordance classes of string links induces a well-defined epimorphism modulo order n twisted Whitney tower concordance, and that the kernel of this map is generated by band sums of iterated Bing-doubles of any string knot with nonzero Arf invariant. We also continue J. Levine's work [20, 21, 22] comparing two filtrations of the group of homology cobordism classes of 3-dimensional homology cylinders, one defined in terms of an Artin-type representation (the Johnson filtration) and one defined using clasper surgery (the Goussarov-Habiro filtration). In p…
We consider knotted annuli in 4-space, called 2-string-links, which are knotted surfaces in codimension two that are naturally related, via closure operations, to both 2-links and 2-torus links. We classify 2-string-links up to link-homotopy by means of a 4-dimensional version of Milnor invariants. The key to our proof is that any 2-string link is link-homotopic to a ribbon one; this allows to use the homotopy classification obtained in the ribbon case by P. Bellingeri and the authors. Along the way, we give a Roseman-type result for immersed surfaces in 4-space. We also discuss the case of ri…
The set SL(n) of n-string links has a monoid structure, given by the stacking product. When considered up to concordance, SL(n) becomes a group, which is known to be abelian only if n=1. In this paper, we consider two families of equivalence relations which endow SL(n) with a group structure, namely the C_k-equivalence introduced by Habiro in connection with finite type invariants theory, and the C_k-concordance, which is generated by C_k-equivalence and concordance. We investigate under which condition these groups are abelian, and give applications to finite type invariants.
Satellite constructions on a knot can be thought of as taking some strands of a knot and then tying in another knot. Using satellite constructions one can construct many distinct isotopy classes of knots. Pushing this further one can construct distinct concordance classes of knots which preserve some algebraic invariants. Infection is a generalization of satellite operations, which has been previously studies. An infection by a string link can be thought of as grabbing a knot at multiple locations and then tying in a link. Cochran, Friedl and Techner showed that any algebraically slice knot is…
In previous work, the author defined the intersection graph of a chord diagram associated with string links (as in the theory of finite type invariants). In this paper, we classify the trees which can be obtained as intersection graphs of string link diagrams.
We establish several new results about both the (n)-solvable filtration, F_n^m, of the set of link concordance classes and the (n)-solvable filtration of the string link concordance group. We first establish a relationship between Milnor's invariants and links, L, with certain restrictions on the 4-manifold bounded by M_L. Using this relationship, we can relate (n)-solvability of a link (or string link) with its Milnor's invariants. Specifically, we show that if a link is (n)-solvable, then its Milnor's invariants vanish for lengths up to 2^{n+2}-1. Previously, there were no known results abou…
We use an action, of 2l-component string links on l-component string links, defined by the first author and Xiao-Song Lin, to lift the indeterminacy of finite type link invariants. The set of links up to this new indeterminacy is in bijection with the orbit space of the restriction of this action to the stabilizer of the identity. Structure theorems for the sets of links up to C_n-equivalence and Self-C_n-equivalence are also given.
Budney recently constructed an operad that encodes splicing of knots. He further showed that the space of (long) knots is generated over this operad by the space of torus knots and hyperbolic knots, thus generalizing the satellite decomposition of knots from isotopy classes to the level of the space of knots. Infection by string links is a generalization of splicing from knots to links. We construct a colored operad that encodes string link infection. We prove that a certain subspace of the space of 2-component string links is generated over a suboperad of our operad by its subspace of prime l…
Koschorke introduced a map from the space of closed $n$-component links to the ordered configuration space of $n$-tuples of points in $\mathbb{R}^3$, and conjectured that this map separates homotopy links. The purpose of this paper is to construct an analogous map for string links, and to prove (1) this map in fact separates homotopy string links, and (2) Koschorke's original map factors through the map constructed here together with an analogue of Markov's closure map defined on the level of certain function spaces.
Configuration space integrals have in recent years been used for studying the cohomology of spaces of (string) knots and links in $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n>3$ since they provide a map from a certain differential algebra of diagrams to the deRham complex of differential forms on the spaces of knots and links. We refine this construction so that it now applies to the space of homotopy string links -- the space of smooth maps of some number of copies of $\mathbb{R}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with fixed behavior outside a compact set and such that the images of the copies of $\R$ are disjoint -- even for $n=3…
In previous work, we defined the intersection graph of a chord diagram associated with a string link (as in the theory of finite type invariants). In this paper, we look at the case when this graph is a tree, and we show that in many cases these trees determine the chord diagram (modulo the usual 1-term and 4-term relations).
Following the recent work by T.-H. Chan in [HOMFLY polynomial of some generalized Hopf links, J. Knot Theory Ramif. 9 (2000) 865--883] on reverse string parallels of the Hopf link we give an alternative approach to finding the Homfly polynomials of these links, based on the Homfly skein of the annulus. We establish that two natural skein maps have distinct eigenvalues, answering a question raised by Chan, and use this result to calculate the Homfly polynomial of some more general reverse string satellites of the Hopf link.
In this article, we define and study the total Milnor invariant and the infinitesimal Morita-Milnor homomorphism as punctured disk analogues of the total Johnson map and the infinitesimal Morita homomorphism studied by Kawazumi and Massuyeau in the case of surface of positive genus with one boundary component.
We give a new proof that the Levine-Tristram signatures of a link give lower bounds for the minimal sum of the genera of a collection of oriented, locally flat, disjointly embedded surfaces that the link can bound in the 4-ball. We call this minimal sum the 4-genus of the link. We also extend a theorem of Cochran, Friedl and Teichner to show that the 4-genus of a link does not increase under infection by a string link, which is a generalised satellite construction, provided that certain homotopy triviality conditions hold on the axis curves, and that enough Milnor's invariants of the infection…
In this paper, we first endow the set of ribbon string links (up to isotopy) with a structure of a cyclic and of a cocyclic set. Next, we relate these (co)cyclic sets with those associated with the coend of a ribbon category. The relationship is given by the universal quantum invariants à la Reshetikhin-Turaev.
The goal of this paper is to give a diagrammatical characterization of the information given by the Milnor invariants of links and string links. More precisely, we describe when two string links have equal Milnor invariants of length $\leq q$ and when a link has trivial Milnor invariants of lenght $\leq q$. This will be done through the use of welded knot theory, involving the notions of arrow calculus and $w_q$--concordance introduced by J-B. Meilhan and A. Yasuhara. These results is to be compared to the classification of links up to $C_q$--concordance obtained by J. Conant, R. Schneiderman …
The Kontsevich invariant and the action of the Grothendieck--Teichmüller group on $2$-component string links
Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University（九州大学产业工学研究院）；Faculty of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University（横滨国立大学环境信息学部）；WPI-SKCM 2 , Hiroshima University（广岛大学 WPI-SKCM 2）
We study configuration space integral formulas for Milnor's homotopy link invariants, showing that they are in correspondence with certain linear combinations of trivalent trees. Our proof is essentially a combinatorial analysis of a certain space of trivalent "homotopy link diagrams" which corresponds to all finite type homotopy link invariants via configuration space integrals. An important ingredient is the fact that configuration space integrals take the shuffle product of diagrams to the product of invariants. We ultimately deduce a partial recipe for writing explicit integral formulas fo…
Bott and Taubes constructed knot invariants by integrating differential forms along the fiber of a bundle over the space of knots, generalizing the Gauss linking integral. Their techniques were later used to construct real cohomology classes in spaces of knots and links in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces. In previous work, we constructed cohomology classes in knot spaces with arbitrary coefficients by integrating via a Pontrjagin--Thom construction. We carry out a similar construction over the space of string links, but with a refinement in which configuration spaces are glued together acc…
We discuss an action of the Grothendieck-Teichmüller proalgebraic group on the linear span of proalgebraic tangles, oriented tangles completed by a filtration of Vassiliev. The action yields a motivic structure on tangles. We derive distinguished properties of the action particularly on proalgebraic string links and on proalgebraic knots which can not be observed in the action on proalgebraic braids. By exploiting the properties, we explicitly calculate the inverse image of the trivial (the chordless) chord diagram under the Kontsevich isomorphism.
We study the spaces of string links and homotopy string links in an arbitrary manifold using multivariable manifold calculus of functors. We construct multi-cosimplicial models for both spaces and deduce certain convergence properties of the associated Bousfield-Kan homotopy and cohomology spectral sequences when the ambient manifold is a Euclidean space of dimension four or more.
It is well known that any link can be represented by the closure of a braid. The minimum number of strings needed in a braid whose closure represents a given link is called the braid index of the link and the well known Morton-Frank-Williams inequality reveals a close relationship between the HOMFLY polynomial of a link and its braid index. In the case that a link is already presented in a closed braid form, Jaeger derived a special formulation of the HOMFLY polynomial. In this paper, we prove a variant of Jaeger's result as well as a dual version of it. Unlike Jaeger's original reasoning, whi…
The $n$-solvable filtration of the $m$-component smooth (string) link concordance group, $$\dots \subset \mathcal{F}^m_{n+1} \subset \mathcal{F}^m_{n.5} \subset \mathcal{F}^m_n \dots \subset \mathcal{F}^m_1 \subset \mathcal{F}^m_{0.5} \subset \mathcal{F}^m_0 \subset \mathcal{F}^m_{-0.5} \subset \mathcal{C}^m,$$ as defined by Cochran, Orr, and Teichner, is a tool for studying smooth knot and link concordance that yields important results in low-dimensional topology. The focus of this paper is to give a characterization of the set of 0-solvable links. We introduce a new equivalence relation on l…
We consider a random link, which is defined as the closure of a braid obtained from a random walk on the braid group. For such a random link, the expected value for the number of components was calculated by Jiming Ma. In this paper, we determine the most expected number of components for a random link, and further, consider the most expected partition of the number of strings for a random braid.
For an $n$-component link $L$, the Milnor's isotopy invariant is defined for each multi-index $I=i_1i_2...i_m (i_j\in\n)$. Here $m$ is called the length. Let $r(I)$ denote the maximam number of times that any index appears. It is known that Milnor invariants with $r=1$ are link-homotopy invariant. N. Habegger and X. S. Lin showed that two string links are a link-homotopc if and only if their Milnor invariants with $r=1$ coincide. This gives us that a link in $S^3$ is link-homotopic to a trivial link if and only if the all Milnor invariants of the link with $r=1$ vanish. Although Milnor invaria…
In the context of finite type invariants, Stanford introduced a family of equivalence relations on knots defined by the lower central series of the pure braid groups and characterized the finite type invariants in terms of the structure of the braid groups. It is known that this equivalence and Ohyama's equivalence defined by a local move are equivalent. On the other hand, in the virtual knot theory, the concept of Ohyama's equivalence was extended by Goussarov-Polyak-Viro, which called an $n$-equivalence. In this paper we extend Stanford's equivalence to virtual knots and virtual string links…
The based loop space of a configuration space of points in a Euclidean space can be viewed as a space of pure braids in a Euclidean space of one dimension higher. We continue our study of such spaces in terms of Kontsevich's CDGA of diagrams and Chen's iterated integrals. We construct a power series connection which yields a Hopf algebra isomorphism between the homology of the space of pure braids and the cobar construction on diagrams. It maps iterated Whitehead products to trivalent trees modulo the IHX relation. As an application, we establish a correspondence between Milnor invariants of B…
In 1996, Tong, Yang and Ma defined a family of representations of the braid group which have the same dimensions as the (unreduced) Burau representations but are not equivalent. The Burau representation was defined homologically and extended to the string links in several ways. In this paper, using the method of Silver and Williams, we extend the family of the Tong-Yang-Ma representations to the string links and welded string links. Moreover, we show that the kernels of these representations may be described using some linking numbers. Finally, we apply the Long-Moody construction to the Tong-…
We explain how, starting with a stack of D4-branes ending on an NS5-brane in type IIA string theory, one can, via T-duality and the topological-holomorphic nature of the relevant worldvolume theories, relate (i) the lattice models realized by Costello's 4d Chern-Simons theory, (ii) links in 3d analytically-continued Chern-Simons theory, (iii) the quantum geometric Langlands correspondence realized by Kapustin-Witten using 4d N = 4 gauge theory and its quantum group modification, and (iv) the Gaitsgory-Lurie conjecture relating quantum groups/affine Kac-Moody algebras to Whittaker D-modules/W-a…
The recently suggested tangle calculus for knot polynomials is intimately related to topological string considerations and can help to build the HOMFLY-PT invariants from the topological vertices. We discuss this interplay in the simplest example of the Hopf link and link $L_{8n8}$. It turns out that the resolved conifold with four different representations on the four external legs, on the topological string side, is described by a special projection of the four-component link $L_{8n8}$, which reduces to the Hopf link colored with two composite representations. Thus, this provides the first e…
We prove the existence of a degree 7 Vassiliev invariant of long (or string) two-component links which is not preserved under the simultaneous change of orientation of both components. The non-invertibility of this invariant can be detected by the standard weight system with values in the tensor square of the universal enveloping algebra for $\gl(n)$.
