Summary
Who doesn’t like games? And when games can involve interesting, visual, mathematical objects like knot diagrams, all the better! In this paper, we propose a new 2-player game on knot diagrams, the Arc Unknotting Game, that uses hot-off-the-press insights about the structure of knots. This game differs from previously studied games on knot diagrams—it’s much more slippery, with available moves appearing and disappearing in perplexing ways throughout the game. Intrigued? Then come play with us!
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Kelemua Tesfaye, Beverly Ruedi, Tamara Lakins, and our anonymous reviewers for their help in making significant improvements to this paper. We would also like to thank the Seattle University College of Science and Engineering for supporting our research.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Christopher Cericola
Christopher Cericola is a Ph.D. student in the mathematics department at Oregon State University. Christopher earned a master’s in mathematics from Louisiana State University and was an instructor at Seattle University before returning to graduate school. In the classroom, they are always eager to help their students or classmates. They also enjoy watching movies and playing games with friends.
Justus Curry
Justus Curry (jcurry@seattleu.edu) graduated from Seattle University in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a minor in mathematics. Justus enjoys tutoring math and organic chemistry, and she has researched synthetic organic chemistry at Seattle University. She plans on pursuing her education in medicine to become a physician.
Allison Henrich
Allison Henrich (henricha@seattleu.edu) is a professor at Seattle University where she has been on the faculty since 2009. She earned a Ph.D. in mathematics at Dartmouth College. Allison is currently the editor of MAA FOCUS, the news magazine of the Mathematical Association of America. Outside of work, she spends time with her two silly children.
Mitchell Rask
Mitchell Rask is a recent graduate of Seattle University with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. He’s looking forward to figuring out what’s next as he searches for a career in STEM that fits his skills and interests. In his spare time, he loves to buy the mistreated plants at plant shops and take them home to revive them.