Quantifying transversality by measuring the robustness of intersections (Q544809)

Let \({\mathbb X},{\mathbb Y}\) be topological spaces, \({\mathbb A}\subseteq{\mathbb Y}\) a subspace, and assume that the space of continuous functions from \({\mathbb X}\) to \({\mathbb Y}\) possesses a metric \(\|\cdot\|\). An \(r\)-perturbation of \(f:{\mathbb X}\rightarrow{\mathbb Y}\) is a function \(h:{\mathbb X}\rightarrow{\mathbb Y}\) such that \(\|f-h\|\leq r\). The authors of the article define the well module \(U\) of \(f\), which encodes topological information about the intersection of the image of \(f\) with \({\mathbb A}\), and show that it is stable under perturbations. The well module is constructed by first defining the map \(f_{\mathbb A}:{\mathbb X}\rightarrow{\mathbb R}\), where \(f_{\mathbb A}(x)\) is the infimum of all values \(r\) such that there exists an \(r\)-perturbation \(h\) with \(h(x)\in{\mathbb A}\), and setting \(F(r)\) to be the homology group of the preimage \(f_{\mathbb A}^{-1}[0,r]\) in \({\mathbb X}\). Next, for each real number \(r\), the subgroup \(U(r)\) of \(F(r)\) is defined as the intersection over all \(r\)-perturbations \(h\) of \(f\) of the images of the maps in homology induced by inclusion \(h^{-1}({\mathbb A})\subseteq f_{\mathbb A}^{-1}[0,r]\). Finally, the well module \(U\) is taken to be the collection of groups \(U(r_j)\), where \(r_0<r_1<\cdots<r_l\) are the critical values of \(f_{\mathbb A}\); i.e., those \(r\) for which the inclusion-induced map \(F(r-\delta)\rightarrow F(r+\delta)\) is not an isomorphism for any \(\delta>0\). Although the groups \(U(r_j)\) do not form a filtration of \(U\), the authors construct one using a generalized form of persistent homology called zigzag persistence. The resulting persistence diagram for \(U\) is shown to be stable under perturbations: for any map \(g:{\mathbb X}\rightarrow{\mathbb Y}\) with corresponding well module \(V\), the bottleneck distance between the persistence diagrams of \(U\) and \(V\) is bounded by \(\|f-g\|\). The authors assume a general mathematical audience versed in homology; while a previous knowledge of persistent homology is not assumed, it is recommended. The article is well-written and organized, and includes a section of topological applications.