Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/iii/paper-112/1/iv/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 112 1 iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-09-28
Take the untwisted Whitehead double of a trefoil knot. The Whitehead pattern has winding number of a satellite pattern zero and becomes the unknot when its companion is the unknot. The Satellite formula for the Alexander polynomial therefore givesThe Whitehead pattern is geometrically essential in its solid torus, so the satellite knot with nontrivial companion is nontrivial. Hence is not isotopic to the unknot despite having trivial Alexander polynomial of a knot.
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