Knot theory is a relatively young branch of mathematics, still less than a century old. The development of the Jones polynomial in 1984 led to increased activity in knot theory. Though work is constantly being done in this field, notably the classification of torus knots, double-torus knots are still lacking such a complete understanding. There exists two notations, those of Rick Norwood and of Peter Hill, that describe knots on the double-torus. The ambition of this thesis is to begin to make the case that it is possible to render these two notations interchangeable. Illustrating this will require examining the two notations and finding a way to change one into the other, then check if this process is reversible. If not, then proceed to develop a method that works to convert the second notation back to the first.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Biochemistry)) -- University of Limpopo, 2003 / Refer to document / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Intuitively, a ribbon is a topological and geometric surface that has a fixed width. In the 1960s and 1970s, Calugareanu, White, and Fuller each independently proved a relationship between the geometry and topology of thin ribbons. This result has been applied in mathematical biology when analyzing properties of DNA strands. Although ribbons of small width have been studied extensively, it appears as though little to no research has be completed regarding ribbons of large width. In general, suppose K is a smoothly embedded knot in R3. Given an arclength parametrization of K, denoted by gamma(s), and given a smooth, smoothly-closed, unit vector field u(s) with the property that u'(s) is not equal to 0 for any s in the domain, we may define a ribbon of generalized width r0 associated to gamma and u as the set of all points gamma(s) + ru(s) for all s in the domain and for all r in [0,r0]. These wide ribbons are likely to have self-intersections. In this thesis, we analyze how the knot type of the outer ribbon edge relates to that of the original knot K and the embedded resolutions of the unit vector field u as the width increases indefinitely. If the outer ribbon edge is embedded for large widths, we prove that the knot type of the outer ribbon edge is one of only finitely many possibilities. Furthermore, the possible set of finitely many knot types is completely determinable from u, independent of gamma. However, the particular knot type in general depends on gamma. The occurrence of stabilized knot types for large widths is generic; we show that the set of pairs (gamma, u) for which the outer ribbon edge stabilizes for large widths (as a subset of all such pairs (gamma, u) is open and dense in the C1 topology. Finally, we provide an algorithm for constructing a ribbon of constant generalized width between any two given knot types K1 and K2. We conclude by providing concrete examples.

The multivariable Alexander polynomial (MVA) is a classical invariant of knots and links. We give an extension to regular virtual knots which has simple versions of many of the relations known to hold for the classical invariant. By following the previous proofs that the MVA is of finite type we give a new definition for its weight system which can be computed as the determinant of a matrix created from local information. This is an improvement on previous definitions as it is directly computable (not defined recursively) and is computable in polynomial time. We also show that our extension to virtual knots is a finite type invariant of virtual knots. We further explore how the multivariable Alexander polynomial takes local information and packages it together to form a global knot invariant, which leads us to an extension to tangles. To define this invariant we use so-called circuit algebras, an extension of planar algebras which are the `right' setting to discuss virtual knots. Our tangle invariant is a circuit algebra morphism, and so behaves well under tangle operations and gives yet another definition for the Alexander polynomial. The MVA and the single variable Alexander polynomial are known to satisfy a number of relations, each of which has a proof relying on different approaches and techniques. Using our invariant we can give simple computational proofs of many of these relations, as well as an alternate proof that the MVA and our virtual extension are of finite type.

The notion of finite type invariants of virtual knots, introduced by Goussarov, Polyak and Viro, leads to the study of the space of diagrams with directed chords mod 6T (also known as the space of arrow diagrams), and weight systems on it. It is well known that given a Manin triple together with a representation we can construct a weight system. In the first part of this thesis we develop combinatorial formulae for weight systems coming from standard Manin triple structures on the classical Lie algebras and these structures' defining representations. These formulae reduce the problem of finding weight systems in the defining representations to certain counting problems. We then use these formulae to verify that such weight systems, composed with the averaging map, give us the weight systems found by Bar-Natan on (undirected) chord diagrams mod 4T. In the second half of the thesis we present results from computations done jointly with Bar-Natan. We compute, up to degree 4, the dimensions of the spaces of arrow diagrams whose skeleton is a line, and the ranks of all classical Lie algebra weight systems in all representations. The computations give us a measure of how well classical Lie algebras capture the spaces of arrow diagrams up to degree 4, and our results suggest that in degree 4 there are already weight systems which do not come from the standard Manin triple structures on classical Lie algebras.

The multivariable Alexander polynomial (MVA) is a classical invariant of knots and links. We give an extension to regular virtual knots which has simple versions of many of the relations known to hold for the classical invariant. By following the previous proofs that the MVA is of finite type we give a new definition for its weight system which can be computed as the determinant of a matrix created from local information. This is an improvement on previous definitions as it is directly computable (not defined recursively) and is computable in polynomial time. We also show that our extension to virtual knots is a finite type invariant of virtual knots. We further explore how the multivariable Alexander polynomial takes local information and packages it together to form a global knot invariant, which leads us to an extension to tangles. To define this invariant we use so-called circuit algebras, an extension of planar algebras which are the `right' setting to discuss virtual knots. Our tangle invariant is a circuit algebra morphism, and so behaves well under tangle operations and gives yet another definition for the Alexander polynomial. The MVA and the single variable Alexander polynomial are known to satisfy a number of relations, each of which has a proof relying on different approaches and techniques. Using our invariant we can give simple computational proofs of many of these relations, as well as an alternate proof that the MVA and our virtual extension are of finite type.

Formulas which derive common concordance invariants for satellite knots tend to lose information regarding the axis a of the satellite operation R(a,J). The Alexander polynomial, the Blanchfield linking form, and Casson-Gordon invariants all fail to distinguish concordance classes of satellites obtained by slightly varying the axis. By applying higher-order invariants and using filtrations of the knot concordance group, satellite concordance may be distinguished by determining which term of the derived series of the fundamental group of the knot complement the axes lie. There is less hope when the axes lie in the same term. We introduce new conditions to distinguish these latter classes by considering the axes in higher-order Alexander modules in three situations. In the first case, we find that R(a,J) and R(b,J) are non-concordant when a and b have distinct orders viewed as elements of the classical Alexander module of R. In the second, we show that R(a,J) and R(b,J) may be distinguished when the classical Blanchfield form of a with itself differs from that of b with itself. Ultimately, this allows us to find infinitely many concordance classes of R(-,J) whenever R has nontrivial Alexander polynomial. Finally, we find sufficient conditions to distinguish these satellites when the axes represent equivalent elements of the classical Alexander module by analyzing higher-order Alexander modules and localizations thereof.

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In this thesis we investigate the problem of defining an extension of sutured instanton Floer homology to give an instanton invariant for a tangle. We do this in three separate steps. First, we investigate the representation variety of singular flat connections on a punctured Riemann surface \(\Sigma\). Suppose \(\Sigma\) has genus \(g\) and that there are \(n\) punctures. We give formulae for the Betti numbers of the space \(\mathcal{R}_{g,n}\) of flat \(SU(2)\)-connections on \(\Sigma\) with trace 0 holonomy around the punctures. By using a natural extension of the Atiyah-Bott generators for the cohomology ring \(H^*(\mathcal{R}_{g,n})\), we are able to write down a presentation for this ring in the case \(g=0\) of a punctured sphere. This is accomplished by studying the intersections of Poincaré dual submanifolds for the new generators and reducing the calculation to a linear algebra problem involving the symplectic volumes of the representation variety. We then study the related problem of computing the instanton Floer homology for a product link in a product 3-manifold <p>\((Y_g, K_n) := (S^1 \times \Sigma, S^1 \times \{n pts\})\).<\p> It is easy to see that the Floer homology of this pair, as a vector space, is essentially the same as the cohomology of \(\mathcal{R}_{g,n}\), and so we set ourselves to determining a presentation for the natural algebra structure on it in the case \(g = 0\). By leveraging a stable parabolic bundles calculation for \(n = 3\) and an easier version of this Floer homology, \(I _*(Y_0, K_n, u)\), we are able to write down a complete presentation for the Floer homology \(I _*(Y_0, K_n)\) as a ring. We recapitulate somewhat the techniques in \([\boldsymbol{27}]\) in order to do this. Crucially, we deduce that the eigenspace for the top eigenvalue for a natural operator \(\mu^{ orb} (\Sigma)\) on \(I_* (Y_0, K_n)\) is 1-dimensional.Finally, we leverage this 1-dimensional eigenspace to define an instanton tangle invariant THI and several variants by mimicking the de nition of sutured Floer homology SHI in \([\boldsymbol{22}]\). We then prove this invariant enjoys nice properties with respect to concatenation, and prove a nontriviality result which shows that it detects the product tangle in certain cases. / Mathematics

The notion of finite type invariants of virtual knots, introduced by Goussarov, Polyak and Viro, leads to the study of the space of diagrams with directed chords mod 6T (also known as the space of arrow diagrams), and weight systems on it. It is well known that given a Manin triple together with a representation we can construct a weight system. In the first part of this thesis we develop combinatorial formulae for weight systems coming from standard Manin triple structures on the classical Lie algebras and these structures' defining representations. These formulae reduce the problem of finding weight systems in the defining representations to certain counting problems. We then use these formulae to verify that such weight systems, composed with the averaging map, give us the weight systems found by Bar-Natan on (undirected) chord diagrams mod 4T. In the second half of the thesis we present results from computations done jointly with Bar-Natan. We compute, up to degree 4, the dimensions of the spaces of arrow diagrams whose skeleton is a line, and the ranks of all classical Lie algebra weight systems in all representations. The computations give us a measure of how well classical Lie algebras capture the spaces of arrow diagrams up to degree 4, and our results suggest that in degree 4 there are already weight systems which do not come from the standard Manin triple structures on classical Lie algebras.