On torus knots and unknots

A comprehensive study of geometric and topological properties of torus knots and unknots is presented. Torus knots/unknots are particularly symmetric, closed, space curves, that wrap the surface of a mathematical torus a number of times in the longitudinal and meridian direction. By using a standard parametrization, new results on local and global properties are found. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of inflection points for a given critical aspect ratio, determine the location and prescribe the regularization condition to remove the local singularity associated with torsion. Since to first approximation total length grows linearly with the number of coils, its nondimensional counterpart is proportional to the topological crossing number of the knot type. We analyze several global geometric quantities, such as total curvature, writhing number, total torsion, and geometric ‘energies’ given by total squared curvature and torsion, in relation to knot complexity measured by the winding number. We conclude with a brief presentation of research topics, where geometric and topological information on torus knots/unknots finds useful application.