Writhe polynomials and shell moves for virtual knots and links

Abstract The writhe polynomial is a fundamental invariant of an oriented virtual knot. We introduce a set of local moves for oriented virtual knots called shell moves. The first aim of this paper is to prove that two oriented virtual knots have the same writhe polynomial if and only if they are related by a finite sequence of shell moves. The second aim of this paper is to classify oriented 2-component virtual links up to shell moves by using several invariants of virtual links.