As it is well-known, all Vassiliev invariants of degree one of a knot $K\subset R^3$ are trivial. There are nontrivial Vassiliev invariants of degree one, when the ambient space is not $R^3$. Recently, T. Fiedler introduced such invariants of a knot in an $R^1$-fibration over a surface $F$. They take values in the free $Z$-module generated by all the free homotopy classes of loops in $F$. Here, we generalize them to the most refined Vassiliev invariant of degree one. The ranges of values of all these invariants are explicitly described.
We also construct a similar invariant of a two-component link in an $\R^1$-fibration. It generalizes the linking number.
In this article we construct a family of knot surgery $4$-manifolds admitting arbitrarily many nonisomorphic Lefschetz fibration structures with the same genus fiber. We obtain such families by performing knot surgery on an elliptic surface $E(2)$ using connected sums of fibered knots obtained by Stallings twist from a slice knot $3_1 \sharp 3^*_1$. By comparing their monodromy groups induced from the corresponding monodromy factorizations, we show that they admit mutually nonisomorphic Lefschetz fibration structures.
In this article we study Lefschetz fibration structures on knot surgery 4-manifolds obtained from an elliptic surface E(2) using Kanenobu knots $K$. As a result, we get an infinite family of simply connected mutually diffeomorphic 4-manifolds coming from a pair of inequivalent Kanenobu knots. We also obtain an infinite family of simply connected symplectic 4-manifolds, each of which admits more than one inequivalent Lefschetz fibration structures of the same generic fiber.
We answer a question posed by Fielder in [1] concerning two notions of crossing number for algebraic knots $K$ under Hopf fibration, one topological, denoted $h(K)$, the other coming from the realization of such knots around complex singularities, denoted $C_{alg}(K)$. We show that $C_{alg}(K)-h(K)$ can be arbitrarily large. We also give an upper bound for $h$ of some families of knots such as torus knots $T(2,n)$, twist knots and their mirror images.
We show that if $K$ is a fibered ribbon knot in $S^3=\partial B^4$ bounding a ribbon disk $D$, then given an extra transversality condition the fibration on $S^3\setminusν(K)$ extends to a fibration of $B^4\setminusν(D)$. This partially answers a question of Casson and Gordon. In particular, we show the fibration always extends when $D$ has exactly two local minima. More generally, we construct movies of singular fibrations on $4$-manifolds and describe a sufficient property of a movie to imply the underlying $4$-manifold is fibered over $S^1$.
Much work has been done on the existence and uniqueness of broken Lefschetz fibrations such as those by Auroux et al., Gay and Kirby, Lekili, Akbulut and Karakurt, Baykur, and Williams, but there has been a lack of explicit examples. A theorem of Gay and Kirby suggests the existence of a broken Lefschetz fibration of S^4 over S^2 with a 2-knot fiber. In the case of a spun or twist-spun torus knot, we present a procedure to construct such fibrations explicitly. The fibrations constructed have no cusps nor Lefschetz singularities.
We give an explicit construction of complex maps whose nodal line have the form of lemniscate knots. We review the properties of lemniscate knots, defined as closures of braids where all strands follow the same transverse (1, $\ell$) Lissajous figure, and are therefore a subfamily of spiral knots generalising the torus knots. We then prove that such maps exist and are in fact fibrations with appropriate choices of parameters. We describe how this may be useful in physics for creating knotted fields, in quantum mechanics, optics and generalising to rational maps with application to the Skyrme-F…
We show that if $B$ is an aspherical 2-orbifold in one of the families known to have orbifold fundamental groups of weight 1 then $B$ is the base of a Seifert fibration of a 2-knot manifold $M(K)$.
We consider vector fields on knot/link complements in $S^3$ which are transverse to the fibres of a fibration of the complement over a circle. We prove that a large class of fibred knots/links, including all non-torus fibred 2-bridge knots, has the following property: any vector field transverse to the fibres of the fibration of the complement must possess periodic orbits representing all possible knot and link types.
We show that isotopy classes of simple closed curves in any oriented surface admit a quandle structure with operations induced by Dehn twists, the Dehn quandle of the surface. We further show that the monodromy of a Lefschetz fibration can be conveniently encoded as a quandle homomorphism from the knot quandle of the base as a manifold with a codimension 2 subspace (the set of singular values) to the Dehn quandle of the generic fibre, and discuss prospects for construction of invariants arising naturally from this description of the monodromy.
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…
Murasugi sums can be defined as readily for Morse maps to the circle of (arbitrary) link complements in the 3-sphere as for fibrations over the circle of (fibered) link complements in the 3-sphere. As one application, I show that if a knot K has free genus m, then there is a Morse map from its complement to the circle (representing the relative homology class of a Seifert surface for K) with no more than 4m critical points.
We formulate large $N$ duality of $\mathrm{U}(N)$ refined Chern-Simons theory with a torus knot/link in $S^3$. By studying refined BPS states in M-theory, we provide the explicit form of low-energy effective actions of Type IIA string theory with D4-branes on the $Ω$-background. This form enables us to relate refined Chern-Simons invariants of a torus knot/link in $S^3$ to refined BPS invariants in the resolved conifold. Assuming that the extra $\mathrm{U}(1)$ global symmetry acts on BPS states trivially, the duality predicts graded dimensions of cohomology groups of moduli spaces of M2-M5 bou…
2-dimensional knots and links are studied in the article. The notion of parity is introduced via techniques similar to the ones used by the second named author in 1-dimensional case. By using parity new invariants are constructed and known invariants are refined.
We define composite DAHA-superpolynomials of torus knots, depending on pairs of Young diagrams and generalizing the composite HOMFLY-PT polynomials in the theory of the skein of the annulus. We provide various examples. Our superpolynomials extend the DAHA-Jones (refined) polynomials and satisfy all standard symmetries of the DAHA-superpolynomials of torus knots. The latter are conjecturally related to the HOMFLY-PT homology; such a connection is a challenge in the theory of the annulus. At the end, we construct two DAHA-hyperpolynomials extending the DAHA-Jones polynomials of type E and close…
We formulate a refinement of SU(N) Chern-Simons theory on a three-manifold via the refined topological string and the (2,0) theory on N M5 branes. The refined Chern-Simons theory is defined on any three-manifold with a semi-free circle action. We give an explicit solution of the theory, in terms of a one-parameter refinement of the S and T matrices of Chern-Simons theory, related to the theory of Macdonald polynomials. The ordinary and refined Chern-Simons theory are similar in many ways; for example, the Verlinde formula holds in both. We obtain new topological invariants of Seifert three-man…
Given a knot in $S^3$, one can associate to it a surface diffeomorphism in two different ways. First, an arbitrary knot in $S^{3}$ can be represented by braids, which can be thought of as diffeomorphisms of punctured disks. Second, if the knot is fibered -- that is, if its complement fibers over $S^1$ -- one can consider the monodromy of the fibration. One can ask to what extent properties of these surface diffeomorphisms dictate topological properties of the corresponding knot. In this article we collect observations, conjectures, and questions addressing this, from both the braid perspective…
Fintushel-Stern's knot surgery gave many pairs of exotic manifolds, which are homeomorphic but non-diffeomorphic. We show that if an elliptic fibration has two parallel, oppositely oriented vanishing circles (for example $S^2\times S^2$ or Matsumoto's $S^4$), then the knot surgery gives rise to standard manifolds. The diffeomorphism can give an alternative proof that Scharlemann's manifold is standard (originally by Akbulut [Ak1]).
We prove that any symplectic 4-manifold which is not a rational or ruled surface, after sufficiently many blow-ups, admits an arbitrary number of nonisomorphic Lefschetz fibrations of the same genus which cannot be obtained from one another via Luttinger surgeries. This generalizes results of Park and Yun who constructed pairs of nonisomorphic Lefschetz fibrations on knot surgered elliptic surfaces. In turn, we prove that there are monodromy factorizations of Lefschetz pencils which have the same characteristic numbers but cannot be obtained from each other via partial conjugations by Dehn twi…
In this paper a classification of Reidemeister moves, which is the most refined, is introduced. In particular, this classification distinguishes some $Ω_3$-moves that only differ in how the three strands that are involved in the move are ordered on the knot. To transform knot diagrams of isotopic knots into each other one must in general use $Ω_3$-moves of at least two different classes. To show this, knot diagram invariants that jump only under $Ω_3$-moves are introduced. Knot diagrams of isotopic knots can be connected by a sequence of Reidemeister moves of only six, out of the total of 24, …
A fibered concordance of knots, introduced by Harer, is a concordance between fibered knots that is well-behaved with respect to the fibrations. We consider semi-fibered concordance of two component ordered links $L=J \sqcup K$ with $J$ fibered. These are concordances that restrict to fibered concordances on the first component. Motivated by some examples of Gompf-Scharlemann-Thompson, we further limit our attention to those links $L$ where $K$ is "close to" a fiber of $J$. Such $L$ are studied with virtual covers, where a virtual knot $\upsilon$ is associated to $L$. We show that the concorda…
Let $K$ be a knot in an L-space $Y$ with a Dehn surgery to a surface bundle over $S^1$. We prove that $K$ is rationally fibered, that is, the knot complement admits a fibration over $S^1$. As part of the proof, we show that if $K\subset Y$ has a Dehn surgery to $S^1 \times S^2$, then $K$ is rationally fibered. In the case that $K$ admits some $S^1 \times S^2$ surgery, $K$ is Floer simple, that is, the rank of $\hat{HFK}(Y,K)$ is equal to the order of $H_1(Y)$. By combining the latter two facts, we deduce that the induced contact structure on the ambient manifold $Y$ is tight. In a different di…
The number of colorings of a knot diagram by a quandle has been shown to be a knot invariant by CJKLS using quandle cohomology methods. In a previous paper by the second named author, the CJKLS invariant was refined and, in particular, it was shown that the number of colorings is an invariant directly without resorting to quandle cohomology. Here we investigate the effectiveness of this invariant on (classical) knots of up to and including ten crossings.
In this paper we introduce a chain complex $C_{1 \pm 1}(D)$ where D is a plat braid diagram for a knot K. This complex is inspired by knot Floer homology, but it the construction is purely algebraic. It is constructed as an oriented cube of resolutions with differential d=d_0+d_1. We show that the E_2 page of the associated spectral sequence is isomorphic to the Khovanov homology of K, and that the total homology is a link invariant which we conjecture is isomorphic to δ-graded knot Floer homology. The complex can be refined to a tangle invariant for braids on 2n strands, where the associated …
Let N be a closed oriented k-dimensional submanifold of the (k+2)-dimensional sphere; denote its complement by C(N). Denote by x the 1-dimensional cohomology class in C(N), dual to N. The Morse-Novikov number of C(N) is by definition the minimal possible number of critical points of a regular Morse map f from C(N) to a circle, such that f belongs to x. In the first part of this paper we study the case when N is the twist frame spun knot associated to an m-knot K. We obtain a formula which relates the Morse-Novikov numbers of N and K and generalizes the classical results of D. Roseman and E.C. …
We give a new geometric obstruction to the iterated Bing double of a knot being a slice link: for n>1 the (n+1)-st iterated Bing double of a knot is rationally slice if and only if the n-th iterated Bing double of the knot is rationally slice. The main technique of the proof is a covering link construction simplifying a given link. We prove certain similar geometric obstructions for n <= 1 as well. Our results are sharp enough to conclude, when combined with algebraic invariants, that if the n-th iterated Bing double of a knot is slice for some n, then the knot is algebraically slice. Also our…
A first order Vassiliev invariant of an oriented knot in an $S^1$-fibration and a Seifert fibration over a surface is constructed. It takes values in a quotient of the group ring of the first homology group of the total space of the fibration. It gives rise to an invariant of wave fronts on surfaces and orbifolds related to the Bennequin-type invariants of the Legendrian curves studied by F. Aicardi, V. Arnold, M. Polyak, and S. Tabachnikov. Formulas expressing these relations are presented. We also calculate Turaev's shadow for the Legendrian lifting of a wave front. This allows to use in the…
We show that for a big class of contact manifolds the groups of order $\leq n$ invariants (with values in an arbitrary Abelian group) of Legendrian, of transverse and of framed knots are canonically isomorphic. On the other hand for an arbitrary cooriented contact structure on $S^1\times S^2$ with the nonzero Euler class of the contact bundle we construct examples of Legendrian homotopic Legendrian knots $K_1$ and $K_2$ such that they realize isotopic framed knots but can be distinguished by finite order invariants of Legendrian knots in $S^1\times S^2$. We construct similar examples for a big…
A holonomic knot is a knot in 3-space which arises as the 2-jet extension of a smooth function on the circle. A holonomic knot associated to a generic function is naturally framed by the blackboard framing of the knot diagram associated to the 1-jet extension of the function. There are two classical invariants of framed knot diagrams: the Whitney index (rotation number) W and the self linking number S. For a framed holonomic knot we show that W is bounded above by the negative of the braid index of the knot, and that the sum of W and |S| is bounded by the negative of the Euler characteristic o…
The generalized volume conjecture relates asymptotic behavior of the colored Jones polynomials to objects naturally defined on an algebraic curve, the zero locus of the A-polynomial $A(x,y)$. Another "family version" of the volume conjecture depends on a quantization parameter, usually denoted $q$ or $\hbar$; this quantum volume conjecture (also known as the AJ-conjecture) can be stated in a form of a q-difference equation that annihilates the colored Jones polynomials and $SL(2,\C)$ Chern-Simons partition functions. We propose refinements / categorifications of both conjectures that include a…
We discuss two realizations of the colored Jones polynomials of a knot, one from an unnoticed work of the second author in 1994 on quantum R-matrices at roots of unity obtained from solutions of the pentagon identity, and another one from recent work of D. Zagier and the first author regarding the Refined Quantum Modularity Conjecture, more precisely, the mysterious top row of a matrix of conjectured knot invariants.
This article presents the constructions of new infinite families of smooth 4-manifolds with the property that any two manifolds in the same family are homeomorphic and, from their construction, seem to be quite different, but cannot be distinguished by Seiberg-Witten invariants. Whether these manifolds are, or are not, actually diffeomorphic seems to be a very difficult question to answer. The most interesting of these constructions is a surgery that from certain symplectic 4-manifolds will produce nonsymplectic 4-manifolds. This is detected by calculations of Seiberg-Witten invariants. The su…
Aganagic and Shakirov propose a refinement of the SU(N) Chern-Simons theory for links in three manifolds with S^1-symmetry, such as torus knots in S^3, based on deformation of the S and T matrices, originally found by Kirillov and Cherednik. We relate the large N limit of the S matrix to the Hilbert schemes of points on the affine plane. As an application, we find an explicit formula for the Euler characteristics of the universal sheaf, applied arbitrary Schur functor.
The recently conjectured knots-quivers correspondence relates gauge theoretic invariants of a knot $K$ in the 3-sphere to representation theory of a quiver $Q_{K}$ associated to the knot. In this paper we provide geometric and physical contexts for this conjecture within the framework of the large $N$ duality of Ooguri and Vafa, that relates knot invariants to counts of holomorphic curves with boundary on $L_{K}$, the conormal Lagrangian of the knot in the resolved conifold, and corresponding M-theory considerations. From the physics side, we show that the quiver encodes a 3d ${\mathcal N}=2$ …
The intersection of a complex plane curve with a small three-sphere surrounding one of its singularities is a non-trivial link. The refined punctual Hilbert schemes of the singularity parameterize subschemes supported at the singular point of fixed length and whose defining ideals have a fixed number of generators. We conjecture that the generating function of Euler characteristics of refined punctual Hilbert schemes is the HOMFLY polynomial of the link. The conjecture is verified for irreducible singularities y^k = x^n, whose links are the k,n torus knots, and for the singularity y^4 = x^7 - …
