The Miyazawa polynomial for long virtual knots

Abstract

We introduce a two-variable polynomial invariant of a long virtual knot, which dominates the Kauffman f-polynomial and the Miyazawa polynomial of the closure. Our invariant satisfies a product formula for the concatenation product of long virtual knots. It describes a formula of the Miyazawa polynomial of a ‘connected sum’ of two virtual knots. It also gives lower bounds for the real crossing number and the virtual crossing number of a long virtual knot.