Hillman Jonathan A. Alexander Ideals of Links

Springer-Verlag, 1981. — 183 р. — (Lecture Notes in Mathematics). — ISBN: 3540111689.The characteristic polynomial of a linear map is one of the most basic of mathematical objects, and under the guise of the Alexander polynomial has been much studied by knot theorists. The rational homology of the infinite cyclic cover of a knot complement is indeed determined by a family of such polynomials.