Measuring and computing natural generators for homology groups

  • Authors:
  • Chao Chen;Daniel Freedman

  • Affiliations:
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th street, Troy, NY 12180, USA;Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th street, Troy, NY 12180, USA

  • Venue:
  • Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

We develop a method for measuring homology classes. This involves two problems. First, we define the size of a homology class, using ideas from relative homology. Second, we define an optimal basis of a homology group to be the basis whose elements' size have the minimal sum. We provide a greedy algorithm to compute the optimal basis and measure classes in it. The algorithm runs in O(@bn^3log^2n) time, where n is the size of the simplicial complex and @b is the Betti number of the homology group. Finally, we prove the stability of our result. The algorithm can be adapted to measure any given class.