Legendrian satellites

Abstract

In this paper we study Legendrian knots in the knot types of satellite knots. In particular, we classify Legendrian Whitehead patterns and learn a great deal about Legendrian braided patterns. We also show how the classification of Legendrian patterns can lead to a classification of the associated satellite knots if the companion knot is Legendrian simple and uniformly thick. This leads to new Legendrian and transverse classification results for knots in the 3-sphere with its standard contact structure as well as a more general perspective on some previous classification results.