Knots and k-width

We investigate several integer invariants of curves in 3-space. We demonstrate relationships of these invariants to crossing number and to total curvature

Periodic orbits in the restricted three-body problem and Arnold's J+J^+-invariant

We apply Arnold's theory of generic smooth plane curves to Stark-Zeeman systems. This is a class of Hamiltonian dynamical systems that describes the dynamics of an electron in an external electric and magnetic field, and includes many systems from celestial mechanics. Based on Arnold's $J^+$-invariant, we introduce invariants of periodic orbits in planar Stark-Zeeman systems and study their behaviour.Comment: 36 Pages, 16 Figure

On the Richter-Thomassen Conjecture about Pairwise Intersecting Closed Curves

A long standing conjecture of Richter and Thomassen states that the total number of intersection points between any $n$ simple closed Jordan curves in the plane, so that any pair of them intersect and no three curves pass through the same point, is at least $(1-o(1))n^2$. We confirm the above conjecture in several important cases, including the case (1) when all curves are convex, and (2) when the family of curves can be partitioned into two equal classes such that each curve from the first class is touching every curve from the second class. (Two curves are said to be touching if they have precisely one point in common, at which they do not properly cross.) An important ingredient of our proofs is the following statement: Let $S$ be a family of the graphs of $n$ continuous real functions defined on $\mathbb{R}$, no three of which pass through the same point. If there are $nt$ pairs of touching curves in $S$, then the number of crossing points is $\Omega(nt\sqrt{\log t/\log\log t})$.Comment: To appear in SODA 201

Maps on 3-manifolds given by surgery

Suppose that the 3-manifold M is given by integral surgery along a link L in S^3. In the following we construct a stable map from M to the plane, whose singular set is canonically oriented. We obtain upper bounds for the minimal numbers of crossings and non-simple singularities and of connected components of fibers of stable maps from M to the plane in terms of properties of L.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication by Pacific J. Mat

Simple Riemannian surfaces are scattering rigid

Scattering rigidity of a Riemannian manifold allows one to tell the metric of a manifold with boundary by looking at the directions of geodesics at the boundary. Lens rigidity allows one to tell the metric of a manifold with boundary from the same information plus the length of geodesics. There are a variety of results about lens rigidity but very little is known for scattering rigidity. We will discuss the subtle difference between these two types of rigidities and prove that they are equivalent for two-dimensional simple manifolds with boundaries. In particular, this implies that two-dimensional simple manifolds (such as the flat disk) are scattering rigid since they are lens/boundary rigid (Pestov--Uhlmann, 2005).Comment: 23 page