Higher-order Analogues of the Slice Genus of a Knot

Abstract

For certain classes of knots we define geometric invariants called higher-order genera. Each of these invariants is a refinement of the slice genus of a knot. We find lower bounds for the higher-order genera in terms of certain von Neumann $\rho$-invariants, which we call higher-order signatures. The higher-order genera offer a refinement of the Grope filtration of the knot concordance group.