Virtual braids and virtual curve diagrams

Abstract

There is a well-known injective homomorphism [Formula: see text] from the classical braid group [Formula: see text] into the automorphism group of the free group [Formula: see text], first described by Artin [Theory of Braids, Ann. Math. (2) 48(1) (1947) 101–126]. This homomorphism induces an action of [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] that can be recovered by considering the braid group as the mapping class group of [Formula: see text] (an upper half plane with [Formula: see text] punctures) acting naturally on the fundamental group of [Formula: see text]. Kauffman introduced virtual links [Virtual knot theory, European J. Combin. 20 (1999) 663–691] as an extension of the classical notion of a link in [Formula: see text]. There is a corresponding notion of a virtual braid, and the set of virtual braids on [Formula: see text] strands forms a group [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we will generalize the Artin action to virtual braids. We will define a set, [Formula: see text], of “virtual curve diagrams” and define an action of [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text]. Then, we will show that, as in Artin’s case, the action is faithful. This provides a combinatorial solution to the word problem in [Formula: see text]. In the papers [V. G. Bardakov, Virtual and welded links and their invariants, Siberian Electron. Math. Rep. 21 (2005) 196–199; V. O. Manturov, On recognition of virtual braids, Zap. Nauch. Sem. POMI 299 (2003) 267–286], an extension [Formula: see text] of the Artin homomorphism was introduced, and the question of its injectivity was raised. We find that [Formula: see text] is not injective by exhibiting a non-trivial virtual braid in the kernel when [Formula: see text].