Narrow Results

Given a Bianchi Group , and a Hyperbolic manifold M, where π₁(M) is of finite index in Γ_d, we show that all boundary slopes are realized as the boundary slope of an immersed totally geodesic surface and hence are virtually embedded boundary slopes.

We show for an alternating knot the minimal boundary slope of an essential spanning surface is given by the signature plus twice the minimum degree of the Jones polynomial and the maximal boundary slope of an essential spanning surface is given by the signature plus twice the maximum degree of the Jones polynomial. For alternating Montesinos knots, these are the minimal and maximal boundary slopes.

The slope conjecture [S. Garoufalidis, The degree of a q-holonomic sequence is a quadratic quasi-polynomial, Electron. J. Combin.18 (2011) 4–27] gives a precise relation between the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot and the boundary slopes of essential surfaces in the knot complement. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the slope conjecture to links. We prove the conjecture for all alternating or more generally adequate links. We also verify the conjecture for torus links.

The Slope Conjecture and the Strong Slope Conjecture predict that the degree of the colored Jones polynomial of a knot is matched by the boundary slope and the Euler characteristic of some essential surfaces in the knot complement. By solving a problem of quadratic integer programming to find the maximal degree and using the Hatcher–Oertel edgepath system to find the corresponding essential surface, we verify the Slope Conjectures for a family of 3-string Montesinos knots satisfying certain conditions.

We describe a normal surface algorithm that decides whether a knot, with known degree of the colored Jones polynomial, satisfies the Strong Slope Conjecture. We also discuss possible simplifications of our algorithm and state related open questions. We establish a relation between the Jones period of a knot and the number of sheets of the surfaces that satisfy the Strong Slope Conjecture (Jones surfaces). We also present numerical and experimental evidence supporting a stronger such relation which we state as an open question.

This paper reviews the two variable polynomial invariant of knots defined using representations of the fundamental group of the knot complement into . The slopes of the sides of the Newton polygon of this polynomial are boundary slopes of incompressible surfaces in the knot complement. The polynomial also contains information about which surgeries are cyclic, and about the shape of the cusp when the knot is hyperbolic. We prove that at least some mutants have the same polynomial, and that most untwisted doubles have non-trivial polynomial. We include several open questions.