Polynomial knot and link invariants from the virtual biquandle

Alissa S. Crans, Allison Henrich, Sam Nelson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Alexander biquandle of a virtual knot or link is a module over a 2-variable Laurent polynomial ring which is an invariant of virtual knots and links. The elementary ideals of this module are then invariants of virtual isotopy which determine both the generalized Alexander polynomial (also known as the Sawollek polynomial) for virtual knots and the classical Alexander polynomial for classical knots. For a fixed monomial ordering <, the Gr\"obner bases for these ideals are computable, comparable invariants which fully determine the elementary ideals and which generalize and unify the classical and generalized Alexander polynomials. We provide examples to illustrate the usefulness of these invariants and propose questions for future work.

Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications
Volume22
Issue number4
StatePublished - 2013

Keywords

  • virtual knot
  • generalized Alexander polynomial
  • virtual Alexander polynomial
  • Sawollek polynomial
  • biquandle
  • Alexander biquandle

Disciplines

  • Algebra
  • Geometry and Topology

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