Blanchfield pairings and twisted Blanchfield pairings of torus knots

Abstract

We give explicit matrix presentations of the Blanchfield pairing and certain twisted Blanchfield pairings of the $(m,n)$-torus knot $T(m,n)$. Our method uses a taut identity realizing a genus-two Heegaard splitting of the manifold $X_{T(m,n)}$ obtained from $S^3$ by $0$-surgery along $T(m,n)$. The taut identity allows us to construct a chain complex of $X_{T(m,n)}$ with few generators. As a result, we obtain explicit matrix presentations of the Blanchfield pairing of $T(m,n)$. Moreover, for each Casson-Gordon type metabelian representation and for suitable roots of unity $\xi$ depending on the representation, we describe the $(t-\xi )$-primary part of the associated twisted Alexander module and give an explicit description of the restriction of the twisted Blanchfield pairing to this primary summand.

25 pages, 1 figure, minor revisions