Pitchfork Bifurcations of Invariant Manifolds

A pitchfork bifurcation of an $(m-1)$-dimensional invariant submanifold of a dynamical system in $\mathbb{R}^m$ is defined analogous to that in $\mathbb{R}$. Sufficient conditions for such a bifurcation to occur are stated and existence of the bifurcated manifolds is proved under the stated hypotheses. For discrete dynamical systems, the existence of locally attracting manifolds $M_+$ and $M_-$, after the bifurcation has taken place is proved by constructing a diffeomorphism of the unstable manifold $M$. For continuous dynamical systems, the theorem is proved by transforming it to the discrete case. Techniques used for proving the theorem involve differential topology and analysis. The theorem is illustrated by means of a canonical example.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

Determinant density and biperiodic alternating links

Let L be any infinite biperiodic alternating link. We show that for any sequence of finite links that Folner converges almost everywhere to L, their determinant densities converge to the Mahler measure of the 2-variable characteristic polynomial of the toroidal dimer model on an associated biperiodic graph.Comment: 12 pages. V2: corrections in section

A note on quasi-alternating Montesinos links

Quasi-alternating links are a generalization of alternating links. They are homologically thin for both Khovanov homology and knot Floer homology. Recent work of Greene and joint work of the first author with Kofman resulted in the classification of quasi-alternating pretzel links in terms of their integer tassel parameters. Replacing tassels by rational tangles generalizes pretzel links to Montesinos links. In this paper we establish conditions on the rational parameters of a Montesinos link to be quasi-alternating. Using recent results on left-orderable groups and Heegaard Floer L-spaces, we also establish conditions on the rational parameters of a Montesinos link to be non-quasi-alternating. We discuss examples which are not covered by the above results.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, revised exposition, added section on non-quasi-alternating Montesinos link

Stable Fixed Points of Card Trick Functions

The 21-card trick is a way of dealing cards in order to predict the card selected by a volunteer. We give a mathematical explanation of why the well-known 21-card trick works using a simple linear discrete function. The function has a stable fixed point which corresponds to the position where the selected card reaches at the end of the trick. We then generalize the 21(7 x 3)-card trick to a p x q - card trick where p and q are odd integers greater than or equal to three, determine the fixed point and prove that it is also stable

On the tail of Jones polynomials of closed braids with a full twist

For a closed n-braid L with a full positive twist and with k negative crossings, 0\leq k \leq n, we determine the first n-k+1 terms of the Jones polynomial V_L(t). We show that V_L(t) satisfies a braid index constraint, which is a gap of length at least n-k between the first two nonzero coefficients of (1-t^2)V_L(t). For a closed positive n-braid with a full positive twist, we extend our results to the colored Jones polynomials. For N>n-1, we determine the first n(N-1)+1 terms of the normalized N-th colored Jones polynomial.Comment: 13 pages

A survey on the Turaev genus of knots

The Turaev genus of a knot is a topological measure of how far a given knot is from being alternating. Recent work by several authors has focused attention on this interesting invariant. We discuss how the Turaev genus is related to other knot invariants, including the Jones polynomial, knot homology theories, and ribbon-graph polynomial invariants.Comment: 18 page

Spanning trees and Khovanov homology

The Jones polynomial can be expressed in terms of spanning trees of the graph obtained by checkerboard coloring a knot diagram. We show there exists a complex generated by these spanning trees whose homology is the reduced Khovanov homology. The spanning trees provide a filtration on the reduced Khovanov complex and a spectral sequence that converges to its homology. For alternating links, all differentials on the spanning tree complex are zero and the reduced Khovanov homology is determined by the Jones polynomial and signature. We prove some analogous theorems for (unreduced) Khovanov homology.Comment: Results in Version 2 have been split among two papers: The current Version 3 and arXiv:0801.4937[math.GT

Mahler Measure and the Vol-Det Conjecture

The Vol-Det Conjecture relates the volume and the determinant of a hyperbolic alternating link in $S^3$. We use exact computations of Mahler measures of two-variable polynomials to prove the Vol-Det Conjecture for many infinite families of alternating links. We conjecture a new lower bound for the Mahler measure of certain two-variable polynomials in terms of volumes of hyperbolic regular ideal bipyramids. Associating each polynomial to a toroidal link using the toroidal dimer model, we show that every polynomial which satisfies this conjecture with a strict inequality gives rise to many infinite families of alternating links satisfying the Vol-Det Conjecture. We prove this new conjecture for six toroidal links by rigorously computing the Mahler measures of their two-variable polynomials.Comment: 29 pages. V2: Minor changes, fixed typos, improved expositio

The 500 simplest hyperbolic knots

We identify all hyperbolic knots whose complements are in the census of orientable one-cusped hyperbolic manifolds with eight ideal tetrahedra. We also compute their Jones polynomials.Comment: Many knot diagrams simplified using Culler and Dunfield's Spherogram. To appear in J. Knot Theory Ramifications. 29 page

A geometric method to compute some elementary integrals

An elementary, albeit higher dimensional, argument is used to compute the area under the power function curve between 0 and 1.Comment: 24 pages, Mathematica code to rotate hyper-cubes included, color illustrations are superior to their black and white rendering