Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:03:08 +0000
From: []
To: roland.mathematics@gmail.com, drorbn@math.toronto.edu
Subject: G&T 260506-BarNatan - Decision


Dear Professor Bar-Natan,

Thank you for submitting your paper

   A Fast, Strong, Topologically Meaningful and Fun Knot Invariant

to Geometry & Topology.

We do not have a full referee's report but, based on quick opinions we received, we are not
able to accept it for publication. G&T can only publish a limited number of pages per year,
which forces the editors to reject many excellent papers that we would otherwise like to
publish. When it seems a paper is likely to be rejected, we try to do that as early in the
process as possible, so it can be submitted elsewhere without delay.

The experts we consulted liked the paper, describing it as "one of the most exciting
developments in knot theory in many years", "interesting", and potentially "very useful".
They were divided about whether it was appropriate for G&T. The arguments in favor and
against were the obvious ones: it's a powerful invariant and the paper gives tantalizing
evidence for a lot of interesting properties, but the construction is somewhat complicated
and few properties are actually proved. One expert suggested Experimental Mathematics would
be a better fit, given the focus on evidence over proof, and the editorial board was
inclined to agree that either a more specialized journal or one more focused on
computational approaches / evidence would be a better placement.

I hope that you will consider submitting other work of yours to Geometry & Topology in the
future.

Sincerely,

[]
Managing Editor, Geometry & Topology