English

A directed persistent homology theory for dissimilarity functions

Algebraic Topology 2023-06-06 v3

Abstract

We develop a theory of persistent homology for directed simplicial complexes which detects persistent directed cycles in odd dimensions. We relate directed persistent homology to classical persistent homology, prove some stability results, and discuss the computational challenges of our approach. Our directed persistent homology theory is motivated by homology with semiring coefficients: by explicitly removing additive inverses, we are able to detect directed cycles algebraically.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2008.00711,
  title  = {A directed persistent homology theory for dissimilarity functions},
  author = {David Méndez and Rubén J. Sánchez-García},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.00711},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

29 pages, 6 figures. The manuscript has been rewritten using ring homology, and the results regarding homology have been moved to an Appendix, where they are presented in their full generality. We are thankful to the referees for their helpful comments which have greatly improved the presentation of the article

R2 v1 2026-06-23T17:35:40.820Z