A characterisation of alternating knot exteriors

作者:Howie Joshua A*
来源:Geometry and Topology, 2017, 21(4): 2353-2371.
DOI:10.2140/gt.2017.21.2353

摘要

We give a topological characterisation of alternating knot exteriors based on the presence of special spanning surfaces. This shows that being alternating is a topological property of the knot exterior and not just a property of diagrams, answering an old question of Fox. We also give a characterisation of alternating link exteriors which have marked meridians. We then describe a normal surface algorithm which can decide if a knot is alternating given a triangulation of its exterior as input.

  • 出版日期2017