Virtual links are algorithmically recognisable

Wirtinger Numbers for Virtual Links

The Wirtinger number of a virtual link is the minimum number of generators of the link group over all meridional presentations in which every relation is an iterated Wirtinger relation arising in a diagram. We prove that the Wirtinger number of a virtual link equals its virtual bridge number. Since the Wirtinger number is algorithmically computable, it gives a more effective way to calculate an upper bound for the virtual bridge number from a virtual link diagram. As an application, we compute upper bounds for the virtual bridge numbers and the quandle counting invariants of virtual knots with…