A criterion for satellite 1-genus 1-bridge knots

Abstract

Let K be a knot in a closed orientable irreducible 3-manifold M. Suppose M admits a genus 1 Heegaard splitting and we denote by H the splitting torus. We say H is a 1-genus 1-bridge splitting of (M, K) if H intersects K transversely in two points, and divides (M, K) into two pairs of a solid torus and a boundary parallel arc in it. It is known that a 1-genus 1-bridge splitting of a satellite knot admits a satellite diagram disjoint from an essential loop on the splitting torus. If M = S 3 and the slope of the loop is longitudinal in one of the solid tori, then K is obtained by twisting a component of a 2-bridge link along the other component. We give a criterion for determining whether a given 1-genus 1-bridge splitting of a knot admits a satellite diagram of a given slope or not. As an application, we show there exist counter examples for a conjecture of Ait Nouh and Yasuhara.