Twisted Alexander polynomials of 2-bridge knots associated to metabelian representations

Abstract

Suppose the knot group G(K) of a knot K has a non-abelian representation ρon A_4 \subset GL(4,Z). We conjecture that the twisted Alexander polynomial of K associated to ρis of the form: Δ_K(t)/(1-t) ϕ(t^3), where Δ_K (t) is the Alexander polynomial of K and ϕ(t^3) is an integer polynomial in t^3. We prove the conjecture for 2-bridge knots K whose group G(K) can be mapped onto a free product Z/2*Z/3. Later, we discuss more general metabelian representations of the knot groups and propose a similar conjecture on the form of the twisted Alexander polynomials.