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Unknot, trefoils, and the 2-twisted positive Whitehead double

Example

Assume the Axiom of Countable Choice. Let U be the standard unknot, let T2,3 be the closure of the positive two-strand braid with three crossings, and let T2,3† be its reverse mirror. Let D+(T2,3,2) denote the positive-clasped Whitehead double of T2,3 with Hedden–Ording twist parameter t=2. Then s(U)=0,s(T2,3)=2,s(T2,3†)=−2,s(D+(T2,3,2))=2,τ(D+(T2,3,2))=0. The smooth four-ball genus of T2,3 is 1. Here τ is the integer knot Floer concordance invariant defined from the filtered knot Floer complex.

The trefoil is the closure of the positive two-strand braid shown schematically below. Both braid strands point downward; each crossing has the right-to-left segment passing over the left-to-right segment, in the positive Artin convention fixed by the crossing-sign definition. The outer arcs connect the corresponding top and bottom endpoints. This drawing specifies the braid closure but is not used in the value calculation.

c¾31=T2;3

Facts & Assumptions

Given: ACω, the crossingless unknot, the standard positive trefoil diagram, and the positive-clasped Whitehead double with Hedden–Ording twist parameter t=2.

[F1]

The standard unknot is the one-crossingless oriented knot with Lee circle algebra AL (Lee-deformed Khovanov complex and filtration).

[F2]

A positive diagram with n crossings and k oriented-resolution circles has s=n−k+1 (Rasmussen's invariant for positive knots).

[F3]

The reverse mirror changes the sign of s (Rasmussen's invariant changes sign under mirror image).

[F4]

The actual positive-clasped Whitehead double with Hedden–Ording twist parameter t=2 has τ(D+(T2,3,2))=0 and s(D+(T2,3,2))=2. The Hedden–Ording t=2 positive Whitehead double has tau zero and s two

[F5]

The smooth four-ball genus is the minimum genus of a smooth orientable proper spanning surface (Smooth and topological slice genus).

[A1]

ACω is the stated axiom branch for the knot invariants and smooth genus used in this Example (The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω)).

[L1]

The two-twisted positive Whitehead trefoil double has Rasmussen invariant two supplies the finite Lee computation for this exact Whitehead diagram. The joint numerical result The Hedden–Ording t=2 positive Whitehead double has tau zero and s two also proves its independently normalized knot Floer value τ=0 by the admitted twelve-grid and its full filtered quotient calculation. Both values in [F4] are proved inputs.

[F6]

The general smooth four-ball bound is ∣s(K)∣≤2g4sm(K) (Rasmussen's s-invariant bounds smooth four-ball genus).

Proof

Given: The knots and conventions in the Example.

1.1A1F1algebra

Under [A1], the crossingless unknot complex has one cohomological degree and basis 1,X in quantum degrees 1,−1, so its two filtration levels are 1,−1. The definition s=smax⁡−1=smin⁡+1 gives s(U)=0.

1.2A1F2F3algebra

The standard positive trefoil diagram has n=3 crossings and k=2 circles in its oriented resolution. Applying [F2] gives s(T2,3)=3−2+1=2. By [F3], its reverse mirror has value −2.

2.1F2F5F6step 1.2algebra

The trefoil Seifert construction from the given diagram starts with two disks and attaches three bands, so its connected orientable surface has Euler characteristic 2−3=−1 and one boundary component. The identity χ=1−2g gives genus 1. Push its interior into a collar of the boundary three-sphere in the four-ball, using a height function that vanishes only on the boundary knot; its graph is still an embedded orientable surface with the same boundary and genus. Thus [F5] gives g4sm(T2,3)≤1. The bound in [F6] gives 2=∣s(T2,3)∣≤2g4sm(T2,3), so its smooth four-ball genus is 1.

3.1A1F4L1step 1.1step 1.2step 2.1algebra∎

Apply the joint value lemma [F4] to the actual positive-clasped double with Hedden–Ording twist parameter t=2. Its diagram and zero-longitude convention are exactly those stipulated here, so it gives s(D+(T2,3,2))=2 and τ(D+(T2,3,2))=0. Together with the unknot and trefoil calculations and the smooth genus computation above, these are every value asserted in the Example.

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