Diagrammatic representations of 3-periodic entanglements

Abstract

Diagrams enable the use of various algebraic and geometric tools for analysing and classifying knots. In this paper we introduce a new diagrammatic representation of triply periodic entangled structures (TP tangles), which are embeddings of simple curves in $R^3$ that are invariant under translations along three non-coplanar axes. As such, these entanglements can be seen as preimages of links embedded in the 3-torus $T^3=S^1\times S^1\times S^1$ in its universal cover $R^3$, where two non-isotopic links in $T^3$ may possess the same TP tangle preimage. We consider the equivalence of TP tangles in $R^3$ through the use of diagrams representing links in $T^3$. These diagrams require additional moves beyond the classical Reidemeister moves, which we define and show that they preserve ambient isotopies of links in $T^3$. The final definition of a tridiagram of a link in $T^3$ allows us to then consider additional notions of equivalence relating non-isotopic links in $T^3$ that possess the same TP tangle preimage.