Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

We study the structure of the stable coefficients of the Jones polynomial of an alternating link. We start by identifying the first four stable coefficients with polynomial invariants of a (reduced) Tait graph of the link projection. This leads us to introduce a free polynomial algebra of invariants of graphs whose elements give invariants of alternating links which strictly refine the first four stable coefficients. We conjecture that all stable coefficients are elements of this algebra, and give experimental evidence for the fifth and sixth stable coefficient.

A monoidal subset of a group is any set which is closed under the product (and contains the identity). The standard example is Dehn^+, the set of maps whcih can be written as a product of right-handed Dehn twists. Using open book decompositions, many properties of contact 3-manifolds are encoded as monoidal subsets of the mapping class group. By a related construction, contact topology also produces a several monoidal subsets of the braid group. These generalize the notion of positive braids and Rudolphs ideas of quasipositive and strongly quasipositive.

In this thesis we study topology of symplectic fillings of contact manifolds supported by planar open books. We obtain results regarding geography of the symplectic fillings of these contact manifolds. Specifically, we prove that if a contact manifold $(M,\xi)$ is supported by a planar open book, then Euler characteristic and signature of any Stein filling of $(M,\xi)$ is bounded. We also prove a similar finiteness result for contact manifolds supported by spinal open books with planar pages.

The set of knots up to a four-dimensional equivalence relation can be given the structure of a group, called the (smooth) knot concordance group. We will discuss how to compute concordance invariants using Heegaard Floer homology. We will then introduce the idea of a "reduced" knot Floer complex, see how it can be used to simplify computations, and give examples of how it can be helpful in distinguishing knots which are not concordant.

Given a closed surface S_g of genus g, a mapping class f is said to be pseudo-Anosov if it preserves a pair of transverse measured foliations such that one is expanding and the other one is contracting by a number $\lambda$. The number $\lambda$ is called a stretch factor (or dilatation) of f. Thurston showed that a stretch factor is an algebraic integer with degree bounded above by 6g-6. However, little is known about which degrees occur.

Heegaard Floer theory consists of a set of invariants of three-and four-dimensional manifolds. Three-manifolds with the simplest HeegaardFloer invariants are called L-spaces and the name stems from the fact thatlens spaces are L-spaces. The primary focus of this talk will be on thequestion of which knots in the three-sphere admit L-space surgeries. Wewill also discuss about possible characterizations of L-spaces that do notreference Heegaard Floer homology.

An introduction for non-experts on real and finite Euler sums, also known as multiple zeta values.

The Ptolemy coordinates are efficient coordinates for computingboundary-unipotent representations of a 3-manifold group in SL(2,C). Wedefine a slightly modified version which allows you to computerepresentations that are not necessarily boundary-unipotent. This givesrise to a new algorithm for computing the A-polynomial.