On The Jones Polynomial of Quasi-alternating Links

Abstract

We prove that twisting any quasi-alternating link $L$ with no gaps in its Jones polynomial $V_L(t)$ at the crossing where it is quasi-alternating produces a link $L^{*}$ with no gaps in its Jones polynomial $V_{L^*}(t)$. This leads us to conjecture that the Jones polynomial of any prime quasi-alternating link, other than $(2,n)$-torus links, has no gaps. This would give a new property of quasi-alternating links and a simple obstruction criterion for a link to be quasi-alternating. We prove that the conjecture holds for quasi-alternating Montesinos links as well as quasi-alternating links with braid index 3.