Combinatorial link concordance using cut-diagrams

Benjamin Audoux; Jean-Baptiste Meilhan; Akira Yasuhara

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arXiv · 2603.26366

Combinatorial link concordance using cut-diagrams

Benjamin Audoux·Jean-Baptiste Meilhan·Akira Yasuhara

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Abstract

Cut-diagrams are diagrammatic objects, defined in dimensions 1 and 2, that generalize links in 3-space and surface-links in 4-space; in dimension 1, this coincides with the theory of welded links. Using cut-diagrams, we introduce an equivalence relation called cut-concordance, which encompasses the topological notion of concordance for classical links. Our main result is that the nilpotent peripheral system of 1-dimensional cut-diagrams is an invariant of cut-concordance, giving along the way a combinatorial version of a theorem of Stallings. We also investigate the relationship with several other equivalence relations in diagrammatic knot theory, in particular in connection with link-homotopy.

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Benjamin Audoux, Jean-Baptiste Meilhan, Akira Yasuhara. 2026-03-27. Combinatorial link concordance using cut-diagrams. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26366

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