On knot invariants which are not of finite type

Theodore Stanford, Rolland Trapp

Published 1999-03-10Version 1

We observe that most known results of the form "v is not a finite-type invariant" follow from two basic theorems. Among those invariants which are not of finite type, we discuss examples which are "ft-independent" and examples which are not. We introduce (n,q)-finite invariants, which are generalizations of finite-type invariants based on Fox's (n,q) congruence classes of knots.