LdT Seminar (Tomorrow - 11 am).

[Rafael Torres]

Speaker: Lucrezia Beatrice Lorenzi (SISSA)

Title: Conway (k)not slice.


Abstract: Following Piccirillo’s article on her notable result, and Hom’s explanatory one on the matter, we will give an overview of the Conway knot’s non-sliceness.

A knot is said to be slice when it bounds a smooth disc in the 4-ball, and their classification is complete under 13 crossings. The Conway knot is particularly interesting, because many sliceness obstructions fail on it. Piccirillo found a lateral strategy to question its sliceness, using a surrogate knot and Rasmussen s-invariant. Part of the seminar will in fact be devoted to Khovanov homology and the meaning of this s-invariant.

All levels are welcome!


Date: Thursday May 29th, 2025
Time: 11:00 am
Venue: Room 136