The unknotting numbers for plus-welded knotoids

Fengling Li; Andrei Vesnin; Xuan Yang

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arXiv · 2601.19549

The unknotting numbers for plus-welded knotoids

Fengling Li·Andrei Vesnin·Xuan Yang

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Abstract

Knotoid theory is a generalization of knot theory introduced by Turaev in 2012. In recent years, various invariants of knotoids have been studied. In this paper, we mainly discuss unknotting moves and unknotting numbers of plus-welded knotoids. Firstly, we prove that a descending diagram of a plus-welded knotoid can be transformed into a trivial one through a finite sequence of $\Omega_1$, $V\Omega_1 - V\Omega_4$, $\Omega_v$, $\Phi_{\text{over}}$, and $\Phi_+$-moves. Secondly, we extend the warping degree of knots to plus-welded knotoids and discuss its properties. Finally, by utilizing the descending diagram and the warping degree, we obtain two unknotting operations for plus-welded knotoids, referred as a crossing change and a crossing virtualization. For both operations, we find upper bounds for corresponding unknotting numbers of plus-welded knotoids.

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Fengling Li, Andrei Vesnin, Xuan Yang. 2026-01-27. The unknotting numbers for plus-welded knotoids. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19549

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