Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2509.05574

On detection probabilities of link invariants

Abstract

We prove that, for many standard link invariants, both the proportion of distinct invariant values and the detection probability among prime alternating links with at most n crossings decay exponentially in n, with an explicit universal rate. In fact, almost every such link belongs to an invariant fiber whose size is itself exponential in n. This phenomenon applies broadly, in particular to the Jones and HOMFLYPT polynomials and integral Khovanov homology. The companion website gives a much more detailed view of the data, including complete distributions of fiber sizes, separate alternating and non-alternating data, and topological data analysis.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Tuomas Kelomäki, Abel Lacabanne, Daniel Tubbenhauer, Pedro Vaz, Victor L. Zhang. 2026-08-18. On detection probabilities of link invariants. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05574

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Word Length Formulae, Normal Forms, Conjugation and Root-finding Algorithms in Surface Groups

In this paper, we mainly study the following symmetric presentation of the surface group $$π_1(Σ_g)=\left\langle c_1,\dots, c_{2g}\mid c_1\cdots c_{2g}c_1^{-1}\cdots c_{2g}^{-1}\right\rangle.$$ For every nontrivial element $x\in π_1(Σ_g)$ and $k\geq 2$, we obtain a uniform representative of the normal forms $\mathfrak{nf}(x^k)$ of $x^k$ under the length-lexicographical order: $$\mathfrak{nf}(x^k) = \overline{LW^{k-2}R}.$$ Building on this result, we establish a new relation among these normal forms, and then derive the following three formulae related to the word length: $|x^2|>|x|$; $|x^k|=(k-1)(|x^2|-|x|)+|x|$; $\lim_{k\to\infty}\frac{|x^k|}{k}=|x^2|-|x|$. Furthermore, we extend these results to obtain a coarser analogue for every minimal geometric presentation. We then define normal forms of conjugacy classes in $π_1(Σ_g)$ and provide a criterion for determining the conjugacy of group elements. As a consequence, we provide efficient algorithms for solving the root-finding and conjugacy problems. Finally, we present applications to the computation of several growth rates.

math.GT

Plane separating continua inscribe rectangles

We prove the following: If $X$ is a plane separating continuum, then every embedding of $X$ into $\mathbb{R}^2$ contains the vertices of a Euclidean rectangle. We arrive to this result by extending a known result by H. Vaughan for Jordan curves to a wider class of topological objects via shape theory and Steenrod homology.

math.GT

Every Link Has Infinitely Many Explicit Generalised T-Link Presentations

Generalised $T$-links provide a simple description of all links in $S^3$ as closures of products of standard twisting blocks, parametrised by finite sequences of integers. We prove that every link admits infinitely many pairwise distinct generalised $T$-link presentations. Starting from any such presentation, we give explicit parameter transformations that preserve the represented link and generate families of pairwise distinct presentations depending on arbitrarily many independent integer parameters.

math.GT