Random geometric complexes in the thermodynamic regime (Q510260)

Let \(\Phi\) be a simple random point process in \(\mathbb R^d\), \(d\geq 2\), that is \(\Phi=\{x_1, x_2,\dots\}\) be a finite or countable, locally finite, subset of points in \(\mathbb R^d\). Let us consider the set \({\mathcal C}_B(\Phi, r) =\cup_{x\in \Phi} B_x(r)\), where \(B_x(r)\) is the \(d\)-dimensional ball of radius \(r\), \(r<\infty\) centered at \(x\in\mathbb R^d\). When \(\Phi\) is a stationary Poisson point process in \(\mathbb R^d\), this union is a special case of Boolean model. Denote by \(\beta_k(A)\), \(k=1,\dots, d-1\) the Betti numbers of a set \(A\subset\mathbb R^d\). The authors study \(\beta_k({\mathcal C}_B(\Phi, r))\) for a random point process \(\Phi\). Since the Betti numbers for \(k\geq d\) are identically zero, these values of \(k\) are uninteresting. On the other hand, \(\beta_0(A)\) gives the number of connected components of \(A\). In this paper, the topology of simplicial complexes with vertices the points of a random point process and faces determined by distance relationships between the vertices is studied. The paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, the authors recall some basic notions from topology and from the theory of point processes. The new results begin in Section 3, where the setting of general stationary point processes are treated, while the Poisson and binomial settings are treated in Section 4. In particular, a central limit theorem for Betti numbers is obtained.