Alexander–Briggs notation

E169181

Alexander–Briggs notation is a classical system for naming and classifying knots in knot theory, assigning each distinct knot a unique label based on its crossing number and order in knot tables.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Alexander–Briggs notation canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf classification scheme
knot notation system
appliesTo prime knots
tame knots
assumes minimal crossing diagrams for knots
basedOn crossing number of a knot
ordering of knots in knot tables
classificationCriterion lexicographic order within same crossing number
minimal crossing number
classificationType catalog-style
defines unique label for each prime knot up to a given crossing number
describes knot by its minimal crossing number and index within that crossing number
distinctFrom Conway notation for knots
Dowker–Thistlethwaite notation
distinguishes knots with same crossing number by index
domain topology
example 3_1 denotes the trefoil knot
4_1 denotes the figure-eight knot
field knot theory
hasProperty each label is intended to correspond to a distinct knot type
labels are not invariant under changes in knot tables beyond crossing number and index
historicalPeriod early 20th century
influenced Dowker–Thistlethwaite notation
surface form: Rolfsen knot table notation

modern knot tabulation practices
introducedBy Garrett Birkhoff
surface form: Garrett Birkhoff Briggs

James Waddel Alexander
surface form: James Waddell Alexander II
introducedInPublication "On types of knotted curves"
introducedInYear 1926
language symbolic notation
namedAfter Garrett Birkhoff
surface form: Garrett Birkhoff Briggs

James Waddel Alexander
surface form: James Waddell Alexander II
notationFormat c_n
c_n^m
relatedTo Hoste–Thistlethwaite–Weeks knot tables
Rolfsen notation
requires determination of minimal crossing number for each knot
scope knots up to a fixed crossing number in standard tables
subfield low-dimensional topology
supports systematic enumeration of prime knots
usedBy knot theorists
topologists
usedFor classifying knots
naming knots
usedIn knot tables in classical knot theory literature

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Conway notation for knots relatedTo Alexander–Briggs notation
Dowker–Thistlethwaite notation relatedTo Alexander–Briggs notation