Journal of Topology Advance Access originally published online on March 3, 2009
Journal of Topology 2009 2(1):105-122; doi:10.1112/jtopol/jtp002
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© 2009 London Mathematical Society
Handle moves in contact surgery diagrams
Department of Mathematics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China, dingfan@math.pku.edu.cn
Mathematisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 86–90, 50931 Köln, Germany, geiges@math.uni-koeln.de
| Abstract |
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We describe various handle moves in contact surgery diagrams, notably contact analogues of the Kirby moves. As an application of these handle moves, we discuss the classification of loose Legendrian knots. Along the way, we prove a one-to-one correspondence (up to Legendrian isotopy) between long Legendrian knots in 3-space and their completion in the 3-sphere.
Received May 21, 2008.
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 57R17, 57R65 (primary), 53D10, 57M25 (secondary)