A skein approach to Bennequin type inequalities
arXiv:0709.2141
Abstract
We give a simple unified proof for several disparate bounds on Thurston-Bennequin number for Legendrian knots and self-linking number for transverse knots in R^3, and provide a template for possible future bounds. As an application, we give sufficient conditions for some of these bounds to be sharp.
15 pages, many figures