An Index Of A Graph With Applications To Knot Theory

An Index of a Graph with Applications to Knot Theory

There are three chapters to the memoir. The first defines and develops the notion of the index of a graph. The next chapter presents the general application of the graph index to knot theory. The last section is devoted to particular examples, such as determining the braid index of alternating pretzel links. A second result shows that for an alternating knot with Alexander polynomial having leading coefficient less than 4 in absolute value, the braid index is determined by polynomial invariants.

An index of a graph with applications to knot theory

Index of a Graph with Applications to Knot Theory

This book presents a remarkable application of graph theory to knot theory. In knot theory, there are a number of easily defined geometric invariants that are extremely difficult to compute; the braid index of a knot or link is one example. The authors evaluate the braid index for many knots and links using the generalized Jones polynomial and the index of a graph, a new invariant introduced here. This invariant, which is determined algorithmically, is likely to be of particular interest to computer scientists.