The fiber of persistent homology for simplicial complexes (Q2154256)

The article under review is concerned with the following inverse or fiber problem. Fix a finite simplicial complex \(K\) with faces denoted by \(\sigma\). Consider the following space of filtrations on \(K\), \[ \mathrm{Fil}_{K} = \{f: K \to [0,1] \mid \sigma \leq \sigma'\text{ implies } f(\sigma) \leq f(\sigma') \}. \] Observe that this space if stratified, where the \(i\)-dimensional stratum is identified with the following set \[ \{(x_1, \dots, x_i) \in (0,1)^i \mid x_1 < \cdots < x_i\} \] where the identification is explicitly given by values in the image of \(f\). Note that the set above is the interior of a simplex. Therefore, \(\mathrm{Fil}_K\) can be viewed or realized as a simplex. Now, consider the persistent homology \(\mathrm{PH}\), as a map on \(\mathrm{Fil}_K\), that maps \(f\) to the barcode of the persistence module given by the sublevel sets \(\{f^{-1}(-\infty, t]\}_{t \in \mathbb R}\). Denote the image of \(\mathrm{PH}\) by \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\). Then the inverse or fiber problem studies the properties of \(\mathrm{PH}^{-1}(D)\) for any \(D\) in \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\). This detects how much information can be recovered from persistent homology or from barcodes. One of the main results in this article shows that \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\) is also stratified (although \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\) does not have the simplex structure as \(\mathrm{Fil}_K\)) and for each stratum \(\mathcal B\), the fiber \(\mathrm{PH}^{-1}(\mathcal B)\) is a polyhedral complex. In order to discover deeper properties, a useful way that is creatively approached by this article is to view \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\) as a category, where its object-set consists of barcodes in \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\) and its hom-set is defined as follows, \[ \mathrm{Mor}(D,D') = \left\{\phi: [0,1] \to [0,1] \,\bigg|\, \begin{array}{ll} \phi\text{ is an order preserving continuous map} \\ \phi\text{ sends endpoints of bars in }D\text{ onto those of }D'\end{array} \right\}. \] Denote the resulting category by \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\). Then the inverse map \(\mathrm{PH}^{-1}\) upgrades to a functor \(\mathrm{PH}^{-1}: \mathrm{Bar}_K\to\mathbf{Top}\). Moreover, another main result of this article shows that when passing to the homotopy category (that is, the hom-set is defined modulo the homotopy relation), denoted by \(h(\cdot)\), we have the following further enhancement, \[ \mathrm{PH}^{-1}: h(\mathrm{Bar}_K)\to h(\mathbf{Top}). \] This is obtained via the identification \(h(\mathrm{Bar}_K) \simeq\mathrm{Ent}(\mathrm{Bar}_K)\), where \(\mathrm{Ent}(\mathrm{Bar}_K)\) is the entrance path category of \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\) defined based on certain paths that cross strata of \(\mathrm{Bar}_K\). This article also discusses the properties when the target of maps in \(\mathrm{Fil}_K\) is \(\mathbb R\) instead of \([0,1]\), where unboundedness of the fibers may appear. Also, a computational example of the finite simplicial complex \(K\) -- a triangle -- is investigated in detail.