Arc index of pretzel knots of type $(-p,q,r)$

Abstract

We computed the arc index for some of the pretzel knots $K=P(-p,q,r)$ with $p,q,r\ge 2$, $r\ge q$ and at most one of $p,q,r$ is even. If $q=2$, then the arc index $\alpha (K)$ equals the minimal crossing number $c(K)$. If $p\ge 3$ and $q=3$, then $\alpha (K)=c(K)-1$. If $p\ge 5$ and $q=4$, then $\alpha (K)=c(K)-2$.

12 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables