Linking numbers of Montesinos links (2403.11512v1)

Abstract: The linking number of an oriented two-component link is an invariant indicating how intertwined the two components are. Tuler proved that the linking number of a two-component rational $\frac{p}{q}$-link is $$\sum^{\frac{|p|}{2}}_{k=1} (-1)^{\big\lfloor (2k-1) \frac{q}{p} \big\rfloor }.$$ In this paper, we provide a simple proof the above result, and introduce the numerical algorithm to find linking numbers of rational links. Using this result, we find linking numbers between any two components in a Montesinos link.