A bound on the equivariant unknotting number

Abstract: We study how the equivariant signature of strongly invertible knots changes under each type of equivariant unknotting move. We prove that the absolute value of the equivariant signature is bounded above by three times the type A equivariant unknotting number, by twice the type C equivariant unknotting number for some $(1,2)$-knots, and, for admissible diagrams, by twice the type B equivariant unknotting number. These results provide analogues in the equivariant setting of the classical bound relating the knot signature to the unknotting number.