The worst way to collapse a simplex
Combinatorics
2020-08-14 v3 Algebraic Topology
Probability
Abstract
In general a contractible complex need not be collapsible. Moreover, there exist complexes which are collapsible but even so admit a collapsing sequence where one "gets stuck", that is one can choose the collapses in such a way that one arrives at a nontrivial complex which admits no collapsing moves. Here we examine this phenomenon in the case of a simplex. In particular we characterize all values of and so that the n-simplex may collapse to a d-complex from which no further collapses are possible. Equivalently and in the language of high-dimensional generalizations of trees, we construct hypertrees that are anticollapsible, but not collapsible. Furthermore we examine anticollapsibility in random simplicial complexes.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1905.07329,
title = {The worst way to collapse a simplex},
author = {Davide Lofano and Andrew Newman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.07329},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
13 pages, 3 figures