A graphical construction of the sl(3) invariant for virtual knots (Q2018368)

Virtual knot theory was introduced by \textit{L. H. Kauffman} [Eur. J. Comb. 20, No. 7, 663--690, Art. No. eujc.1999.0314 (1999; Zbl 0938.57006)] as a generalization of classical knot theory. A virtual knot is an equivalence class of virtual knot diagrams modulo generalized Reidemeister moves. In [Int. J. Math. 5, No. 1, 61--85 (1994; Zbl 0797.57008)] \textit{G. Kuperberg} applied Kauffman's bracket methods to derive three variants of the Jones polynomial. In the paper under review, the authors study a generalization of the Kuperberg \(sl(3)\)-bracket invariant to virtual knot theory. Precisely they construct a graph-valued analogue of the Homflypt \(sl(3)\)-invariant for virtual knots. As an application, the authors show that the \(sl(3)\)-invariant can be used to prove minimality theorems and to construct new invariants of free links.