We explore a knot invariant derived from colorings of corresponding 1-tangles with arbitrary connected quandles. When the quandle is an abelian extension of a certain type the invariant is equivalent to the quandle 2-cocycle invariant. We construct many such abelian extensions using generalized Alexander quandles without explicitly finding 2-cocycles. This permits the construction of many 2-cocycle invariants without exhibiting explicit 2-cocycles. We show that for connected generalized Alexander quandles the invariant is equivalent to Eisermann's knot coloring polynomial. Computations using this technique show that the 2-cocycle invariant distinguishes all of the oriented prime knots up to 11 crossings and most oriented prime knots with 12 crossings including classification by symmetry: mirror images, reversals, and reversed mirrors.

Quandle 2-cocycles define invariants of classical and virtual knots, and extensions of quandles. We show that the quandle 2-cocycle invariant with respect to a non-trivial 2-cocycle is constant, or takes some other restricted form, for classical knots when the corresponding extensions satisfy certain algebraic conditions. In particular, if an abelian extension is a conjugation quandle, then the corresponding cocycle invariant is constant. Specific examples are presented from the list of connected quandles of order less than 48. Relations among various quandle epimorphisms involved are also examined.

Quandle colorings and cocycle invariants are studied for composite knots, and applied to chirality and abelian extensions. The square and granny knots, for example, can be distinguished by quandle colorings, so that a trefoil and its mirror can be distinguished by quandle coloring of composite knots. We investigate this and related phenomena. Quandle cocycle invariants are studied in relation to quandle coloring of the connected sum, and formulas are given for computing the cocycle invariant from the number of colorings of composite knots. Relations to corresponding abelian extensions of quandles are studied, and extensions are examined for the table of small connected quandles, called Rig quandles. Computer calculations are presented, and summaries of outputs are discussed.

A chord diagram consists of a circle, called the backbone, with line segments, called chords, whose endpoints are attached to distinct points on the circle. The genus of a chord diagram is the genus of the orientable surface obtained by thickening the backbone to an annulus and attaching bands to the inner boundary circle at the ends of each chord. Variations of this construction are considered here, where bands are possibly attached to the outer boundary circle of the annulus. The genus range of a chord diagram is the genus values over all such variations of surfaces thus obtained from a given chord diagram. Genus ranges of chord diagrams for a fixed number of chords are studied. Integer intervals that can be, and those that cannot be, realized as genus ranges are investigated. Computer calculations are presented, and play a key role in discovering and proving the properties of genus ranges.

We present a set of 26 finite quandles that distinguish (up to reversal and mirror image) by number of colorings, all of the 2977 prime oriented knots with up to 12 crossings. We also show that 1058 of these knots can be distinguished from their mirror images by the number of colorings by quandles from a certain set of 23 finite quandles. We study the colorings of these 2977 knots by all of the 431 connected quandles of order at most 35 found by Vendramin. Among other things, we collect information about quandles that have the same number of colorings for all of the 2977 knots. For example, we prove that if is a simple quandle of prime power order then and the dual quandle * of have the same number of colorings for all knots and conjecture that this holds for all Alexander quandles . We study a knot invariant based on a quandle homomorphism : → . We also apply the quandle colorings we have computed to obtain some new results for the bridge index, the Nakanishi index, the tunnel number, and the unknotting number. In an appendix we discuss various properties of the quandles in Vendramin's list. Links to the data computed and various programs in C, GAP and Maple are provided.