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A family of <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300301.png" />-tangles (cf. [[Tangle|Tangle]]) classified by J.H. Conway. The <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300302.png" />-tangle of Fig.a1 is called a rational tangle with Conway notation <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300303.png" />. It is a rational <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300305.png" />-tangle if
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<table class="eq" style="width:100%;"> <tr><td valign="top" style="width:94%;text-align:center;"><img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300306.png" /></td> </tr></table>
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The fraction <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300307.png" /> is called the slope of the tangle and can be identified with the slope of the meridian disc of the solid torus that is the branched double covering of the rational tangle.
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A family of $2$-tangles (cf. [[Tangle|Tangle]]) classified by J.H. Conway. The $2$-tangle of Fig.a1 is called a rational tangle with Conway notation $T ( a _ { 1 } , \dots , a _ { n } )$. It is a rational $p / q$-tangle if
  
<img style="border:1px solid;" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/common_img/r130030a.gif" />
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\begin{equation*} \frac { p } { q } = a _ { n } + \frac { 1 } { a _ { n  - 1} + \ldots + \frac { 1 } { a_ { 1 } } }. \end{equation*}
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The fraction $p / q$ is called the slope of the tangle and can be identified with the slope of the meridian disc of the solid torus that is the branched double covering of the rational tangle.
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<img src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/common_img/r130030a.gif" style="border:1px solid;"/>
  
 
Figure: r130030a
 
Figure: r130030a
  
<img style="border:1px solid;" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/common_img/r130030b.gif" />
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<img src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/common_img/r130030b.gif" style="border:1px solid;"/>
  
 
Figure: r130030b
 
Figure: r130030b
  
Conway proved that two rational tangles are ambient isotopic (with boundary fixed) if and only if their slopes are equal. A rational <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r1300308.png" />-tangle (also called an <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r13003011.png" />-bridge <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r13003012.png" />-tangle) is an <img align="absmiddle" border="0" src="https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/legacyimages/r/r130/r130030/r13003013.png" />-tangle that can be obtained from the identity tangle by a finite number of additions of a single crossing.
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Conway proved that two rational tangles are ambient isotopic (with boundary fixed) if and only if their slopes are equal. A rational $n$-tangle (also called an $n$-bridge $n$-tangle) is an $n$-tangle that can be obtained from the identity tangle by a finite number of additions of a single crossing.
  
 
====References====
 
====References====
<table><TR><TD valign="top">[a1]</TD> <TD valign="top">  J.H. Conway,  "An enumeration of knots and links"  J. Leech (ed.) , ''Computational Problems in Abstract Algebra'' , Pergamon Press  (1969)  pp. 329–358</TD></TR><TR><TD valign="top">[a2]</TD> <TD valign="top">  A. Kawauchi,  "A survey of knot theory" , Birkhäuser  (1996)</TD></TR></table>
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<table><tr><td valign="top">[a1]</td> <td valign="top">  J.H. Conway,  "An enumeration of knots and links"  J. Leech (ed.) , ''Computational Problems in Abstract Algebra'' , Pergamon Press  (1969)  pp. 329–358</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">[a2]</td> <td valign="top">  A. Kawauchi,  "A survey of knot theory" , Birkhäuser  (1996)</td></tr></table>

Revision as of 15:30, 1 July 2020

A family of $2$-tangles (cf. Tangle) classified by J.H. Conway. The $2$-tangle of Fig.a1 is called a rational tangle with Conway notation $T ( a _ { 1 } , \dots , a _ { n } )$. It is a rational $p / q$-tangle if

\begin{equation*} \frac { p } { q } = a _ { n } + \frac { 1 } { a _ { n - 1} + \ldots + \frac { 1 } { a_ { 1 } } }. \end{equation*}

The fraction $p / q$ is called the slope of the tangle and can be identified with the slope of the meridian disc of the solid torus that is the branched double covering of the rational tangle.

Figure: r130030a

Figure: r130030b

Conway proved that two rational tangles are ambient isotopic (with boundary fixed) if and only if their slopes are equal. A rational $n$-tangle (also called an $n$-bridge $n$-tangle) is an $n$-tangle that can be obtained from the identity tangle by a finite number of additions of a single crossing.

References

[a1] J.H. Conway, "An enumeration of knots and links" J. Leech (ed.) , Computational Problems in Abstract Algebra , Pergamon Press (1969) pp. 329–358
[a2] A. Kawauchi, "A survey of knot theory" , Birkhäuser (1996)
How to Cite This Entry:
Rational tangles. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Rational_tangles&oldid=13459
This article was adapted from an original article by Jozef Przytycki (originator), which appeared in Encyclopedia of Mathematics - ISBN 1402006098. See original article