Chord Diagrams and Coxeter Links

This paper presents a construction of fibered links $(K,\Sigma)$ out of chord diagrams \sL. Let $\Gamma$ be the incidence graph of \sL. Under certain conditions on \sL the symmetrized Seifert matrix of $(K,\Sigma)$ equals the bilinear form of the simply-laced Coxeter system $(W,S)$ associated to $\Gamma$; and the monodromy of $(K,\Sigma)$ equals minus the Coxeter element of $(W,S)$. Lehmer's problem is solved for the monodromy of these Coxeter links.Comment: 18 figure

Salem-Boyd sequences and Hopf plumbing

Given a fibered link, consider the characteristic polynomial of the monodromy restricted to first homology. This generalizes the notion of the Alexander polynomial of a knot. We define a construction, called iterated plumbing, to create a sequence of fibered links from a given one. The resulting sequence of characteristic polynomials has the same form as those arising in work of Salem and Boyd in their study of distributions of Salem and P-V numbers. From this we deduce information about the asymptotic behavior of the large roots of the generalized Alexander polynomials, and define a new poset structure for Salem fibered links.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Osaka J. Mat

Lehmer's Problem, McKay's Correspondence, and 2,3,72,3,7

This paper addresses a long standing open problem due to Lehmer in which the triple 2,3,7 plays a notable role. Lehmer's problem asks whether there is a gap between 1 and the next smallest algebraic integer with respect to Mahler measure. The question has been studied in a wide range of contexts including number theory, ergodic theory, hyperbolic geometry, and knot theory; and relates to basic questions such as describing the distribution of heights of algebraic integers, and of lengths of geodesics on arithmetic surfaces. This paper focuses on the role of Coxeter systems in Lehmer's problem. The analysis also leads to a topological version of McKay's correspondence

Boundary Manifolds of Line Arrangements

In this paper we describe the complement of real line arrangements in the complex plane in terms of the boundary three-manifold of the line arrangement. We show that the boundary manifold of any line arrangement is a graph manifold with Seifert fibered vertex manifolds, and depends only on the incidence graph of the arrangement. When the line arrangement is defined over the real numbers, we show that the homotopy type of the complement is determined by the incidence graph together with orderings on the edges emanating from each vertex.Comment: Latex, 22 pages, 15 figure