Wild knot

A wild knot.

In the mathematical theory of knots, a knot is tame if it can be "thickened up", that is, if there exists an extension to an embedding of the solid torus S 1 × D 2 into the 3-sphere. A knot is tame if and only if it can be represented as a finite closed polygonal chain. Knots that are not tame are called wild and can have pathological behavior. In knot theory and 3-manifold theory, often the adjective "tame" is omitted. Smooth knots, for example, are always tame. Wild knots can be found in some Celtic designs.

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/4/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.