A geometric interpretation of Milnor’s triple linking numbers

Milnor’s triple linking numbers of a link in the 3–sphere are interpreted geometrically in terms of the pattern of intersections of the Seifert surfaces of the components of the link. This generalizes the well known formula as an algebraic count of triple points when the pairwise linking numbers vanish.

Keywords

$\bar\mu$–invariants, Seifert surfaces, link homotopy

Mathematical Subject Classification 2000

Primary: 57M25

Secondary: 57M27

References

Forward citations

Publication

Received: 7 June 2003

Accepted: 16 June 2003

Published: 19 June 2003

Authors

Blake Mellor
Loyola Marymount University One LMU Drive Los Angeles, CA 90045 USA

Paul Melvin
Bryn Mawr College 101 N merion Ave Bryn Mawr PA 19010-2899 USA

Volume 3, issue 1 (2003)

Blake Mellor and Paul Melvin