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Thomas W. Mattman

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas W. Mattman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Four triangle-free intrinsically knotted graphs with 22 edges

An intrinsically knotted graph is one for which every spatial embedding contains a nontrivially knotted cycle. Classifying such graphs is a central problem in spatial graph theory. It is known that every intrinsically knotted graph has at least 21 edges, and the case of 21 edges has been completely resolved. For 22 edges, however, the classification remains incomplete. In particular, exactly eight triangle-free examples with a vertex of degree at least 5 are known, leaving only the case in which all vertices have degree 3 or 4. In this paper, we introduce a method for detecting intrinsic knottedness based on induced subgraphs obtained by deleting pairs of vertices. Using this method, we classify all triangle-free intrinsically knotted graphs with 22 edges having eight vertices of degree~4 and four of degree~3. We prove that there are exactly four: Cousins 43, 105, and 109 in the $E_9\!+\!e$ family and the graph $H_{12}\! +\! e$ in the $H_9\!+\!e$ family.

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arXiv2025

Galois theory by calculator

We present an algorithm to determine the Galois group of an irreducible monic polynomial $f(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ of degree at most five. Following work of Conrad, Dummit, and Stauduhar this comes down to answering two questions: Is a given integer a square? and Does a given polynomial have an integral root? Since these are both easily addressed with a calculator, our algorithm amounts to Galois theory by calculator. For example, we have an implementation at Desmos.com. In an appendix we present a simplified version of our algorithm, suitable for a handheld calculator, in case $f(x) = x^n + px + q$.

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arXiv2025

Boundary slopes (nearly) bound exceptional slopes

For a hyperbolic knot in $S^3$, Dehn surgery along slope $r \in \Q \cup \{\frac10\}$ is {\em exceptional} if it results in a non-hyperbolic manifold. We say meridional surgery, $r = \frac10$, is {\em trivial} as it recovers the manifold $S^3$. We provide evidence in support of two conjectures. The first (inspired by a question of Professor Motegi) states that there are boundary slopes $b_1 < b_2$ such that all non-trivial exceptional surgeries occur, as rational numbers, in the interval $[b_1,b_2]$. We say a boundary slope is {\em NIT} if it is non-integral or toroidal. Second, when there are non-trivial exceptional surgeries, we conjecture there are NIT boundary slopes $b_1 \leq b_2$ so that the exceptional surgeries lie in $[\floor{b_1},\ceil{b_2}]$. Moreover, if $\ceil{b_1} \leq \floor{b_2}$, the integers in the interval $[ \ceil{b_1}, \floor{b_2} ]$ are all exceptional surgeries.

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arXiv2024

Ihara zeta functions for some simple graph families

The reciprocal of the Ihara zeta function of a graph is a polynomial invariant introduced by Ihara in 1966. Scott and Storm gave a method to determine the coefficients of the polynomial. Here we simplify their calculation and determine the zeta function for all graphs of rank two. We verify that it is a complete invariant for such graphs: If $G_1$ and $G_2$ are of rank two, then $G_1$ and $G_2$ are isomorphic if and only if they have the same Ihara zeta function. We observe that the reciprocal of the zeta function is an even polynomial if the graph is bipartite. We also determine the zeta function for several graph families: complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, Möbius ladders, cocktail party graphs, and all graphs of order five or less. We use the special value $u=1$ to count the spanning trees for these families.

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arXiv2024

COVID on trees and infinite grids

We use Hartnell's model for virus spread on a graph, also known as firefighting. For rooted trees, we propose an Unburning Algorithm, a type of greedy algorithm starting from the leaves and working back towards the root. We show that the algorithm saves at least half the vertices of the optimal solution and that this is bound is sharp. We confirm a conjecture of Hartke about integrality gaps when comparing linear and integer program solutions. For general graphs, we propose a Containment Protocol, which looks ahead two time steps to decide where to place vaccinations. We show that the protocol performs near optimally on four well-studied infinite grids. The protocol is available for any graph and we realize this flexibility by investigating an infinite pentagonal graph.

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arXiv2024

Dips at small sizes for topological graph obstruction sets

The Graph Minor Theorem of Robertson and Seymour implies a finite set of obstructions for any minor closed graph property. We show that there are only three obstructions to knotless embedding of size 23, which is far fewer than the 92 of size 22 and the hundreds known to exist at larger sizes. We describe several other topological properties whose obstruction set demonstrates a similar dip at small size. For order ten graphs, we classify the 35 obstructions to knotless embedding and the 49 maximal knotless graphs.

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arXiv2023

Non-integral boundary slopes of alternating knots

We show, for every positive integer $n$, there is an alternating knot having a boundary slope with denominator $n$. We make use of Kabaya's method for boundary slopes and the layered solid torus construction introduced by Jaco and Rubinstein and further developed by Howie et al.

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arXiv2021

Family sizes for complete multipartite graphs

The obstruction set for graphs with knotless embeddings is not known, but a recent paper of Goldberg, Mattman, and Naimi indicates that it is quite large. Almost all known obstructions fall into four Triangle-Y families and they ask if there is an efficient way of finding or estimating the size of such graph families. Inspired by this question, we investigate the family size for complete multipartite graphs. Aside from three families that appear to grow exponentially, these families stabilize: after a certain point, increasing the number of vertices in a fixed part does not change family size.

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arXiv2021

Maximal knotless graphs

A graph is maximal knotless if it is edge maximal for the property of knotless embedding in $R^3$. We show that such a graph has at least $\frac74 |V|$ edges, and construct an infinite family of maximal knotless graphs with $|E| < \frac52|V|$. With the exception of $|E| = 22$, we show that for any $|E| \geq 20$ there exists a maximal knotless graph of size $|E|$. We classify the maximal knotless graphs through nine vertices and 20 edges. We determine which of these maxnik graphs are the clique sum of smaller graphs and construct an infinite family of maxnik graphs that are not clique sums.

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arXiv2019

Two-bridge knots admit no purely cosmetic surgeries

We show that two-bridge knots and alternating fibered knots admit no purely cosmetic surgeries, i.e., no pair of distinct Dehn surgeries on such a knot produce 3-manifolds that are homeomorphic as oriented manifolds. Our argument, based on a recent result by Hanselman, uses several invariants of knots or 3-manifolds; for knots, we study the signature and some finite type invariants, and for 3-manifolds, we deploy the $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ Casson invariant.

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arXiv2019

The special value $u=1$ of Artin-Ihara $L$-functions

We study the special value $u=1$ of Artin-Ihara $L$-functions associated to characters of the automorphism group of abelian covers of multigraphs. In particular, we show an annihilation statement analogous to a classical conjecture of Brumer on annihilation of class groups for abelian extensions of number fields and we also calculate the index of an ideal analogous to the classical Stickelberger ideal in algebraic number theory. Along the way, we make some observations about the number of spanning trees in abelian multigraph coverings that may be of independent interest.

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arXiv2019

Intrinsic linking and knotting are arbitrarily complex in directed graphs

Fleming and Foisy recently proved the existence of a digraph whose every embedding contains a $4$-component link, and left open the possibility that a directed graph with an intrinsic $n$-component link might exist. We show that, indeed, this is the case. In fact, much as Flapan, Mellor, and Naimi show for graphs, knotting and linking are arbitrarily complex in directed graphs. Specifically, we prove the analog for digraphs of the main theorem of their paper: for any $n$ and $α$, every embedding of a sufficiently large complete digraph in $\mathbb{R}^3$ contains an oriented link with components $Q_1, \ldots, Q_n$ such that, for every $i \neq j$, $|\mathrm{lk}(Q_i,Q_j)| \geq α$ and $|a_2(Q_i)| \geq α$, where $a_2(Q_i)$ denotes the second coefficient of the Conway polynomial of $Q_i$.

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arXiv2019

Invisible knots and rainbow rings: knots not determined by their determinants

We determine p-colorability of the paradromic rings. These rings arise by generalizing the well-known experiment of bisecting a Mobius strip. Instead of joining the ends with a single half twist, use $m$ twists, and, rather than bisecting ($n = 2$), cut the strip into $n$ sections. We call the resulting collection of thin strips $P(m,n)$. By replacing each thin strip with its midline, we think of $P(m,n)$ as a link, that is, a collection of circles in space. Using the notion of $p$-colorability from knot theory, we determine, for each $m$ and $n$, which primes $p$ can be used to color $P(m,n)$. Amazingly, almost all admit 0, 1, or an infinite number of prime colorings! This is reminiscent of solutions sets in linear algebra. Indeed, the problem quickly turns into a study of the eigenvalues of a large, nearly diagonal matrix. Our paper combines this explicit calculation in linear algebra with a survey of several ideas from knot theory including colorability and torus links.

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arXiv2018

Forbidden minors: Finding the finite few

The Graph Minor Theorem of Robertson and Seymour asserts that any graph property, whatsoever, is determined by an associated finite list of graphs. We view this as an impressive generalization of Kuratowski's theorem, which characterizes planarity in terms of two forbidden subgraphs, $K_5$ and $K_{3,3}$. Robertson and Seymour's result empowers students to devise their own Kuratowski type theorems; we propose several undergraduate research projects with that goal. As an explicit example, we determine the seven forbidden minors for a property we call strongly almost--planar (SAP). A graph is SAP if, for any edge $e$, both deletion and contraction of $e$ result in planar graphs.

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arXiv2018

Most Graphs are Knotted

We present four models for a random graph and show that, in each case, the probability that a graph is intrinsically knotted goes to one as the number of vertices increases. We also argue that, for $k \geq 18$, most graphs of order $k$ are intrinsically knotted and, for $k \geq 2n+9$, most of order $k$ are not $n$-apex. We observe that $p(n) = 1/n$ is the threshold for intrinsic knotting and linking in Gilbert's model.

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