This is an expository article of our work on analogies between knot theory and algebraic number theory. We shall discuss foundational analogies between knots and primes, 3-manifolds and number rings mainly from the group-theoretic point of view.
Given a 3-manifold $Y$ and a free homotopy class in $[S^1,Y]$, we investigate the set of topological concordance classes of knots in $Y times [0,1]$ representing the given homotopy class. The concordance group of knots in the 3-sphere acts on this set. We show in many cases that the action is not transitive, using two techniques. Our first technique uses Reidemeister torsion invariants, and the second uses linking numbers in covering spaces. In particular, we show using covering links that for the trivial homotopy class, and for any 3-manifold that is not the 3-sphere, the set of orbits is infinite. On the other hand, for the case that $Y=S^1 times S^2$, we apply topological surgery theory to show that all knots with winding number one are concordant.
We show that in a prime, closed, oriented 3-manifold M, equivalent knots are isotopic if and only if the orientation preserving mapping class group is trivial. In the case of irreducible, closed, oriented $3$-manifolds we show the more general fact that every orientation preserving homeomorphism which preserves free homotopy classes of loops is isotopic to the identity. In the case of $S^1times S^2$, we give infinitely many examples of knots whose isotopy classes are changed by the Gluck twist.
We study finite type invariants of nullhomologous knots in a closed 3-manifold $M$ defined in terms of certain descending filtration ${mathscr{K}_n(M)}_{ngeq 0}$ of the vector space $mathscr{K}(M)$ spanned by isotopy classes of nullhomologous knots in $M$. The filtration ${mathscr{K}_n(M)}_{n geq 0}$ is defined by surgeries on special kinds of claspers in $M$ having one special leaf. More precisely, when $M$ is fibered over $S^1$ and $H_1(M)=mathbb{Z}$, we study how far the natural surgery map from the space of $mathbb{Q}[t^{pm 1}]$-colored Jacobi diagrams on $S^1$ of degree $n$ to the graded quotient $mathscr{K}_n(M)/mathscr{K}_{n+1}(M)$ can be injective for $nleq 2$. To do this, we construct a finite type invariant of nullhomologous knots in $M$ up to degree 2 that is an analogue of the invariant given in our previous paper arXiv:1503.08735, which is based on Lescops construction of $mathbb{Z}$-equivariant perturbative invariant of 3-manifolds.
We construct a functor from the smooth 4-dimensional manifolds to the hyper-algebraic number fields, i.e. fields with non-commutative multiplication. It is proved that that the simply connected 4-manifolds correspond to the abelian extensions. We recover the Rokhlin and Donaldsons Theorems from the Galois theory of the non-commutative fields.
We recursively determine the homotopy type of the space of any irreducible framed link in the 3-sphere, modulo rotations. This leads us to the homotopy type of the space of any knot in the solid torus, thus answering a question posed by Arnold. We similarly study spaces of unframed links in the 3-sphere, modulo rotations, and spaces of knots in the thickened torus. The subgroup of meridional rotations splits as a direct factor of the fundamental group of the space of any framed link except the unknot. Its generators can be viewed as generalizations of the Gramain loop in the space of long knots. Taking the quotient by certain such rotations relates the spaces we study. All of our results generalize previous work of Hatcher and Budney. We provide many examples and explicitly describe generators of fundamental groups.