Slice implies mutant ribbon for odd 5–stranded pretzel knots

Bryant, Kathryn

doi:10.2140/agt.2017.17.3621

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Slice implies mutant ribbon for odd $5$–stranded pretzel knots

Kathryn Bryant

Algebraic & Geometric Topology 17 (2017) 3621–3664

DOI: 10.2140/agt.2017.17.3621

Abstract

A pretzel knot $K$ is called odd if all its twist parameters are odd and mutant ribbon if it is mutant to a simple ribbon knot. We prove that the family of odd $5$ –stranded pretzel knots satisfies a weaker version of the slice-ribbon conjecture: all slice odd $5$ –stranded pretzel knots are mutant ribbon, meaning they are mutant to a ribbon knot. We do this in stages by first showing that $5$ –stranded pretzel knots having twist parameters with all the same sign or with exactly one parameter of a different sign have infinite order in the topological knot concordance group and thus in the smooth knot concordance group as well. Next, we show that any odd $5$ –stranded pretzel knot with zero pairs or with exactly one pair of canceling twist parameters is not slice.

Keywords

slice, ribbon, pretzel, knot, Donaldson's theorem, d-invariant

Mathematical Subject Classification 2010

Primary: 32S55, 57-XX

References

Publication

Received: 21 September 2016

Revised: 7 February 2017

Accepted: 26 February 2017

Published: 4 October 2017

Authors

Kathryn Bryant
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO United States

Volume 17, issue 6 (2017)