A multi-crossing (or n-crossing) is a singular point in a projection of a knot or link at which n strands cross so that each strand bisects the crossing. We generalise the classic result of Kauffman, Murasugi and Thistlethwaite relating the span of the bracket polynomial to the double-crossing number of a link, span〈K〉 ⩽ 4c2, to the n-crossing number. We find the following lower bound on the n-crossing number in terms of the span of the bracket polynomial for any n ⩾ 3:
We also explore
n-crossing additivity under composition, and find that for
n ⩾ 4 there are examples of knots
K1 and
K2 such that
cn(
K1#
K2) =
cn(
K1) +
cn(
K2) − 1. Further, we present the the first extensive list of calculations of
n-crossing numbers of knots. Finally, we explore the monotonicity of the sequence of
n-crossings of a knot, which we call the crossing spectrum.