2011/08/29 by Ryan Blair, Blair, Ryan
Computer Science · Mathematics · #57M25 #57M27 #57M50 #Advanced Combinatorial Mathematics #FOS: Mathematics #Geometric Topology (math.GT) #Geometric and Algebraic Topology #Topological and Geometric Data Analysis #math.GT #msc:57M25 #msc:57M27 #msc:57M50
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1108.5640
13 pages, 11 figures
arxiv created 2011/08/29 · openalex publication_date 2011/08/29 · arxiv updated 2011/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We show that essential punctured spheres in the complement of links with distance three bridge spheres have bounded complexity. We define the operation of tangle product, a generalization of both connected sum and Conway product. Finally, we use the bounded complexity of essential punctured spheres to show that the bridge number of a tangle product is at least the sum of the bridge numbers of the two factor links up to a constant error.