Rational Dehn surgery ($p/q$)

For a null-homologous knot, choose a meridian of a knot $\mu$ and Seifert longitude $\lambda$. Rational surgery with relatively prime numerator $p$ and denominator $q$ fills the knot exterior along $p\mu +q\lambda$. A negative continued fraction for $p/q$ replaces this operation by integer surgery on a chain of meridians, using slam-dunk moves.