A directed persistent homology theory for dissimilarity functions (Q6082668)

The authors develop a theory of persistent homology for directed simplicial complexes which detects persistent directed cycles in odd dimensions, unlike the traditional approach of persistent homology. They relate directed persistent homology to classical persistent homology, prove some stability results, and discuss the computational challenges of this approach. The directed persistent homology theory is motivated by homology with semiring coefficients: by explicitly removing additive inverses, it is possible to detect directed cycles algebraically. The motivation to develop directed persistent homology is the applications to real-world data sets where asymmetry or directionality, in particular the presence of directed cycles, plays a fundamental role. Examples include biological neural networks (directed synaptic connections), time series data (directed temporal connections) or biological molecular networks such as protein-protein interaction networks (inhibitory and excitatory connections).