• Kyungpook Mathematical Journal
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.145-161
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• 2017

If a virtual knot diagram can be transformed to another virtual one by a finite sequence of crossing changes, Reidemeister moves and virtual moves then the two virtual knot diagrams are said to be homotopic. There are infinitely many homotopy classes of virtual knot diagrams. We give necessary conditions by using polynomial invariants of virtual knots for two virtual knots to be homotopic. For a sequence S of crossing changes, Reidemeister moves and virtual moves between two homotopic virtual knot diagrams, we give a lower bound for the number of crossing changes in S by using the affine index polynomial introduced in [13]. In [10], the first author gave the q-polynomial of a virtual knot diagram to find Reidemeister moves of virtually isotopic virtual knot diagrams. We find how to apply Reidemeister moves by using the q-polynomial to show homotopy of two virtual knot diagrams.

• Kyungpook Mathematical Journal
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.205-212
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• 2021

We show that the forbidden detour move, essentially introduced by Kanenobu and Nelson, is an unknotting operation for virtual knots. Then we define the forbidden detour number of a virtual knot to be the minimal number of forbidden detour moves necessary to transform a diagram of the virtual knot into the trivial knot diagram. Some upper and lower bounds on the forbidden detour number are given in terms of the minimal number of real crossings or the coefficients of the affine index polynomial of the virtual knot.