English

Are two given maps homotopic? An algorithmic viewpoint

Algebraic Topology 2013-12-10 v1 Computational Geometry

Abstract

This paper presents two algorithms. In their simplest form, the first algorithm decides the existence of a pointed homotopy between given simplicial maps f, g from X to Y and the second computes the group [ΣX,Y][\Sigma X,Y]^* of pointed homotopy classes of maps from a suspension; in both cases, the target Y is assumed simply connected and the algorithms run in polynomial time when the dimension of X is fixed. More generally, these algorithms work relative to a subspace A of X, fibrewise over a simply connected B and also equivariantly when all spaces are equipped with a free action of a fixed finite group G.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1312.2337,
  title  = {Are two given maps homotopic? An algorithmic viewpoint},
  author = {Marek Filakovský and Lukáš Vokřínek},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1312.2337},
  year   = {2013}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T02:23:30.146Z