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Reducible Crossing


ReducibleCrossing

A crossing in a knot diagram for which there exists a circle in the projection plane meeting the diagram transversely at that crossing, but not meeting the diagram at any other point. Removable crossings can be removed by twisting, and so cannot occur in a knot diagram of minimal link crossing number. Reducible crossings are also called nugatory crossings (Tait 1898, Hoste et al. 1998) or removable crossings.


See also

Alternating Knot, Knot Diagram, Reduced Knot Diagram

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References

Hoste, J.; Thistlethwaite, M.; and Weeks, J. "The First 1701936 Knots." Math. Intell. 20, 33-48, Fall 1998.Tait, P. G. "On Knots I, II, and III." Scientific Papers, Vol. 1. Cambridge, England: University Press, pp. 273-347, 1898.

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Reducible Crossing

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Reducible Crossing." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ReducibleCrossing.html

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