The limit shapes of midpoint polygons in ℝ3

For a polygon in the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Euclidean space, we give two kinds of normalizations of its [Formula: see text]th midpoint polygon by a homothetic transformation and an affine transformation, respectively. As [Formula: see text] goes to infinity, the normalizations will approach “regular” polygons inscribed in an ellipse and a generalized Lissajous curve, respectively, where the curves may be degenerate. The most interesting case is when [Formula: see text], where polygons with all its [Formula: see text]th midpoint polygons knotted are discovered and discussed. Such polygonal knots can be seen as a discrete version of the Lissajous knots.

MÖBIUS TRANSFORMATIONS OF POLYGONS AND PARTITIONS OF 3-SPACE

The image of a polygonal knot K under a spherical inversion of ℝ3 ∪ ∞ is a simple closed curve made of arcs of circles, perhaps some line segments, having the same knot type as the mirror image of K. But suppose we reconnect the vertices of the inverted polygon with straight lines, making a new polygon [Formula: see text]. This may be a different knot type. For example, a certain 7-segment figure-eight knot can be transformed to a figure-eight knot, a trefoil, or an unknot, by selecting different inverting spheres. Which knot types can be obtained from a given original polygon K under this process? We show that for large n, most n-segment knot types cannot be reached from one initial n-segment polygon, using a single inversion or even the whole Möbius group. The number of knot types is bounded by the number of complementary domains of a certain system of round 2-spheres in ℝ3. We show the number of domains is at most polynomial in the number of spheres, and the number of spheres is itself a polynomial function of the number of edges of the original polygon. In the analysis, we obtain an exact formula for the number of complementary domains of any collection of round 2-spheres in ℝ3. On the other hand, the number of knot types that can be represented by n-segment polygons is exponential in n. Our construction can be interpreted as a particular instance of building polygonal knots in non-Euclidean metrics. In particular, start with a list of n vertices in ℝ3 and connect them with arcs of circles instead of line segments: Which knots can be obtained? Our polygonal inversion construction is equivalent to picking one fixed point p ∈ ℝ3 and replacing each edge of K by an arc of the circle determined by p and the endpoints of the edge.

THE MINIMUM OF KNOT ENERGY FUNCTIONS

In this paper we discuss some fundamental issues regarding knot energy functions. These include the existence of minimum values of energy functions of smooth knots and energy functions of polygonal knots within a knot type, the convergence of these minimum values in the case of polygonal knot energy and the convergence of the corresponding polygons where these minimum values are attained. When the polygonal knot energy is derived from a smooth knot energy, will the minimal polygonal knot energies converge to the infimum of the smooth knot energy? Do the corresponding polygons converge to a smooth knot at which the smooth energy achieves its minimal value? We show that one cannot expect these to be true in general and outline certain conditions that would ensure a positive answer to some of the above questions.

In Search of a Good Polygonal Knot Energy

An energy function on knots is a scale-invariant function from knot conformations into non-negative real numbers. The infimum of an energy function is an invariant which defines "canonical conformation(s)" of a knot in three space. These are not necessarily unique, and, in some cases, may even be singular. Many hierarchies of energy functions for knots in the mathematical and physical science literature have been studied, each energy function with its own characteristic set of properties. In this paper we focus on the energy functions of equilateral polygonal knots. These energy functions are important in computer studies of knot energies, and are often defined as discrete versions of energy functions defined on smooth knots. Energy functions on equilateral polygonal knots turn out to be ill-behaved in many cases. To characterize a "good" polygonal knot energy we introduce the concepts of asymptotically finite and asymptotically smooth energy functions of equilateral polygonal knots. Energy functions which are both asymptotically finite and smooth tend to have food limiting behavior (as the number of edges goes to infinity). We introduce a new energy function of equilateral polygonal knots, and show that it is both asymptotically finite and smooth. In addition, we compute this energy for several knots using simulated annealing.

AN ELEMENTARY INVARIANT OF KNOTS

We indicate how certain invariants can be computed for polygonal knots with few edges. This leads to conclusions regarding the minimal number of edges required to represent certain knots.