The Dabkowski-Sahi invariant and $4$-moves for links

Abstract

Dabkowski and Sahi defined an invariant of a link in the $3$-sphere, which is preserved under $4$-moves. This invariant is a quotient of the fundamental group of the complement of the link. It is generally difficult to distinguish the Dabkowski-Sahi invariants of given links. In this paper, we give a necessary condition for the existence of an isomorphism between the Dabkowski-Sahi invariant of a link and that of the corresponding trivial link. Using this condition, we provide a practical obstruction to a link to be trivial up to $4$-moves.