What is a virtual link? (Q1408557)

A virtual link is an equivalence class of link diagrams drawn on surfaces with genus \(n\geq 0\) under the usual Reidemeister moves plus a stabilization move consisting of adding or removing handles which miss the link diagram. In this paper, the author shows that every such equivalence class has a unique (up to Reidemeister moves) minimal-genus representative. In particular, this implies that virtually equivalent classical links are classically equivalent.