Abstract
A pretzel knot 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 –stranded pretzel knots satisfies a weaker version of the slice-ribbon conjecture: all slice odd –stranded pretzel knots are mutant ribbon, meaning they are mutant to a ribbon knot. We do this in stages by first showing that –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 –stranded pretzel knot with zero pairs or with exactly one pair of canceling twist parameters is not slice.
Citation
Kathryn Bryant. "Slice implies mutant ribbon for odd $5$–stranded pretzel knots." Algebr. Geom. Topol. 17 (6) 3621 - 3664, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2140/agt.2017.17.3621
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