Relationships between braid length and the number of braid strands

For a knot K, let l (K, n) be the minimum length of an n-stranded braid representative of K. Fixing a knot K, l (K, n) can be viewed as a function of n, which we denote by l(K) (n). Examples of knots exist for which l(K) (n) is a nonincreasing function. We investigate the behavior of l(K) (n), developing bounds on the function in terms of the genus of K. The bounds lead to the conclusion that for any knot K the function l(K) (n) is eventually stable. We study the stable behavior of l(K) (n), with stronger results for homogeneous knots. For knots of nine or fewer crossings, we show that l(K)(n) is stable on all of its domain and determine the function completely.