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.

Motivated by the action of XER site-specific recombinase on DNA, this thesis will study the topological properties of a type of local crossing change on oriented knots and links called nullification. One can define a distance between types of knots and links based on the minimum number of nullification moves necessary to change one to the other. Nullification distances form a class of isotopy invariants for oriented knots and links which may help inform potential reaction pathways for enzyme action on DNA. The minimal number of nullification moves to reach a è-component unlink will be called the è-nullification number. This thesis will demonstrate the relationship of the nullification numbers to a variety of knot invariants, and use these to solve the è-nullification numbers for prime knots up to 10 crossings for any è. A table of nullification numbers for oriented prime links up to 9 crossings is also presented, but not all cases are solved. In addition, we examine the families of rational links and torus links for explicit results on nullification. Nullification numbers of torus knots and a subfamily of rational links are solved. In doing so, we obtain an expression for the four genus of said subfamily of rational links, and an expression for the nullity of any torus link.

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.

Celtic art contains mysterious and fascinating aesthetic elements including complex knot work motifs. The problem is that creating and exploring these motifs require substantial human effort. One solution to this problem is to create a process that collaboratively uses interactive and procedural methods within a computer graphic environment. Spline models of Celtic knot work can be interactively modeled and used as input into procedural shaders. Procedural shaders are computer programs that describe surface, light, and volumetric appearances to a renderer. The control points of spline models can be used to drive shading procedures such as the coloring and displacement of surface meshes. The result of this thesis provides both an automated and interactive process that is capable of producing complex interlaced structures such as Celtic knot work within a three-dimensional environment.

This paper focuses on generalizing unoriented handlebody-links to the twisted virtual case, obtaining Reidemeister moves for handlebody-links in ambient spaces. The paper introduces a related algebraic structure known as twisted virtual bikeigebras whose axioms are motivated by the twisted virtual handlebody-link Reidemeister moves. In the research, twisted virtual bikeigebras are used to dene X-colorability for twisted virtual handlebody-links and define an integer-valued invariant of twisted virtual handlebody-links. The paper also includes example computations of the new invariants and use them to distinguish some twisted virtual handlebody-links.

Suppose K is a fibered knot with bi-orderable knot group. We perform a topological winding operation to half-twist bands in a free incompressible Seifert surface Σ of K. This results in a Seifert surface Σ' with boundary that is a non-fibered knot K'. We call K a fibered base of K'. A fibered base exists for a large class of non-fibered knots. We prove K' has a bi-orderable knot group if Σ' is obtained from applying the winding operation to only one half-twist band of Σ. Utilizing a Seifert surface gluing technique, we obtain HNN extension group presentations for both knot groups that differ by only one relation. To show the knot group of K' is bi-orderable, we apply the following: Let G be a bi-ordered free group with order preserving automorphism ɑ. It is well known that the semidirect product ℤ ×ɑG is a bi-orderable group. If X is a basis of G, a presentation of ℤ ×ɑG is ⟨ t,X | R ⟩, where the relations are R = {txt-1}ɑ(x)-1 : x ∈ X}. If R' is any subset of R, we prove that the group H =⟨ t,X | R' ⟩ is bi-orderable. H is a special case of an HNN extension of G. Finally, we add new relations to the group presentation of H such that bi-orderability is preserved.

No description available.

The water crisis has been an increasing challenge in some places in the world. One proposed solution that has drawn lots of attention is fog harvesting. A commonly used fog collector is a vertical mesh, usually made of poly materials. Small water droplets can easily get pinned and quick evaporation is the major common challenge for vertical meshes. Coating the fog mesh with superhydrophobic chemicals is one of the solutions. However, superhydrophobicity is not durable and it may contaminate the collected water. In addition, it requires a high professional maintenance and laboratory operation standard. As a result, it is impractical to set such fog collectors in regions and countries with water crisis. Low cost, harmless, easily fabricated, higher coalesce rate and low maintenance are the five pillars for this research. This thesis topic is inspired by spider silk's ability to direct water droplets to certain locations to further enhance water collecting rate. This directional droplet movement is caused by spindle-knot and joint structure on the biomimetic silk. The spindle-knot is randomly porous, and the joint is stretched porous. In addition, the spindle-knot has a tilted angle β above the joint region. Due to these unique structures, there are three droplet movement controlling forces – surface tension force, hysteresis force, and Laplace pressure force. This thesis presents detailed equation derivations for each driving force in the introduction section. Spindle-knot is the pivot point to direct water, forming the spindle-knot structure is another focus of this thesis. Fluid coating and dip-coating with dimethylformamide (DMF), a solvent with a low evaporation rate, is the highly used methods to form the spindle-knot structures due to its simple setup and low cost. However, DMF is an extremely hazardous organic compound, and it requires high laboratory operation standards. In the second section of this thesis, DMF has been replaced with water/ethanol and photocurable materials to construct the spindle-knots. Furthermore, Additive manufacturing (3D printing method) was adopted to synthesize bionic spider web with spindle-knot structures. / Master of Science / Water shortage is one of the highest concerns all around the world and collecting fog water has drawn lots of attention recently. The focus of this thesis is to increase the fog collection rate by using less hazardous, low maintenance and low-cost methods. Commonly used fog collector is a large vertical plastic mesh. However, those large meshes suffer from water pinning and easily evaporation issues. Water repellent chemicals have been studied and used to dissolve those issues, however, the chemical coating will not last long and it will contaminate the collected water easily. Moreover, coating the water repellent chemicals requires professional operation and maintenance. To solve this issue without using chemical coating, we have learned unique water collection and directional behavior from spider silk. In a humid day, you will easily find the spider web with fully covered water droplets in an organized order. If we zoom in on single spider silk, the spider silk is composed of many puff and joint regions. Those puff regions have higher water collection ability than the joint regions, and this puff region shrinks down to form the spindle-knot shape with angle β above the joint region. This unique spindle-knot structure induces the water directional movement, and three forces- surface tension force, pinning force, and Laplace pressure force – are controlling the moving direction. Chapter 1 shows equation derivations with surface material effects, surface roughness effects and water droplet landing location effects. To form such special spindle-knot structure, commonly used formation methods are fluid coating and dip coating by using an organic polymer solvent. However, commonly used organic polymer-solvent suffer from a high level of hazardous, resulting in high laboratory requirement and operation cost. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, that commonly used organic polymer-solvent will be replaced by water/ethanol mixture and light-sensitive materials to form the spindle-knots. Furthermore, the 3D printing method is adopted to build a spider web with spindle-knot structures.

A quandle is a set with a binary operation that satisfies three axioms that corresponds to the three Reidemeister moves on knot diagrams. Homology and cohomology theories of quandles were introduced in 1999 by Carter, Jelsovsky,Kamada, Langford, and Saito as a modification of the rack (co)homology theory defined by Fenn, Rourke, and Sanderson. Cocycles of the quandle (co)homology, along with quandle colorings of knot diagrams, were used to define a new invariant called the quandle cocycle invariants, defined in a state-sum form. This invariant is constructed using a finite quandle and a cocyle, and it has the advantage that it can distinguish some knots from their mirror images, and orientations of knotted surfaces. To compute the quandle cocycle invariant for a specific knot, we need to find a quandle that colors the given knot non-trivially, and find a cocycle of the quandle. It is not easy to find cocycles,since the cocycle conditions form a large, over-determined system of linear equations. At first the computations relied on cocycles found by computer calculations. We have seen significant progress in computations after Mochizuki discovered a family of 2- and 3-cocycles for dihedral and other linear Alexander quandles written by polynomial expressions. In this dissertation, following the method of the construction by Mochizuki, a variety of n-cocycles for n >̲ 2 are constructed for some Alexander quandles, given by polynomial expressions. As an application, these cocycles are used to compute the invariants for (2,n)-torus knots, twist knots and their r-twist spins. The calculations in the case of (2,n)-torus knots resulted in formulas that involved the derivative of the Alexander polynomial. Non-triviality of some quandle homology groups is also proved using these cocycles. Another application is given for tangle embeddings. The quandle cocycle invariants are used as obstructions to embedding tangles in links. The formulas for the cocycle invariants of tangles are obtained using polynomial cocycles, and by comparing the invariant values, information is obtained on which tangles do not embed in which knots. Tangles and knots in the tables are examined, and concrete examples are listed.

viii, 57 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / We introduce a new finite-complexity knot theory, the theory of plumbers' knots, as a model for classical knot theory. The spaces of plumbers' curves admit a combinatorial cell structure, which we exploit to algorithmically solve the classification problem for plumbers' knots of a fixed complexity. We describe cellular subdivision maps on the spaces of plumbers' curves which consistently make the spaces of plumbers' knots and their discriminants into directed systems. In this context, we revisit the construction of the Vassiliev spectral sequence. We construct homotopical resolutions of the discriminants of the spaces of plumbers knots and describe how their cell structures lift to these resolutions. Next, we introduce an inverse system of unstable Vassiliev spectral sequences whose limit includes, on its E ∞ - page, the classical finite-type invariants. Finally, we extend the definition of the Vassiliev derivative to all singularity types of plumbers' curves and use it to construct canonical chain representatives of the resolution of the Alexander dual for any invariant of plumbers' knots. / Committee in charge: Dev Sinha, Chairperson, Mathematics; Hal Sadofsky, Member, Mathematics; Arkady Berenstein, Member, Mathematics; Daniel Dugger, Member, Mathematics; Andrzej Proskurowski, Outside Member, Computer & Information Science