AN OBSTRUCTION TO EMBEDDING 4-TANGLES IN LINKS
Abstract
We consider the ways in which a 4-tangle T inside a unit cube can be extended outside the cube into a knot or link L. We present two links n(T) and d(T) such that the greatest common divisor of the determinants of these two links always divides the determinant of the link L.
In order to prove this result we give a two-integer invariant of 4-tangles. Calculations are facilitated by viewing the determinant as the Kauffman bracket at a fourth root of -1, which sets the loop factor to zero. For rational tangles, our invariant coincides with the value of the associated continued fraction.
This paper was prepared while the author was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, and a visiting assistant professor at the University of South Alabama.
