Twisted Alexander polynomials of periodic knots

Jonathan A Hillman, Charles Livingston, Swatee Naik

Published 2004-12-19, updated 2009-02-26Version 3

Murasugi discovered two criteria that must be satisfied by the Alexander polynomial of a periodic knot. We generalize these to the case of twisted Alexander polynomials. Examples demonstrate the application of these new criteria, including to knots with trivial Alexander polynomial, such as the two polynomial 1 knots with 11 crossings. Hartley found a restrictive condition satisfied by the Alexander polynomial of any freely periodic knot. We generalize this result to the twisted Alexander polynomial and illustrate the applicability of this extension in cases in which Hartley's criterion does not apply.