On Legendrian knots and polynomial invariants

Ferrand, Emmanuel

doi:10.1090/S0002-9939-01-06153-6

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On Legendrian knots and polynomial invariants

Author: Emmanuel Ferrand
Journal: Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 130 (2002), 1169-1176
MSC (1991): Primary 53C15, 57M25
Posted: September 14, 2001
MathSciNet review: 1873793
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Abstract: It is proved in this note that the analogues of the Bennequin inequality which provide an upper bound for the Bennequin invariant of a Legendrian knot in the standard contact three dimensional space in terms of the least degree in the framing variable of the HOMFLY and the Kauffman polynomials are not sharp. Furthermore, the relationships between these restrictions on the range of the Bennequin invariant are investigated, which leads to a new simple proof of the inequality involving the Kauffman polynomial.

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