Strong discrete Morse theory and simplicial L-S category: a discrete version of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theorem

Lyusternik-Shnirel'man category of a space, topological complexity à la Farber, topological robotics (topological aspects) (55M30) Simplicial sets and complexes in algebraic topology (55U10) Discrete Morse theory and related ideas in manifold topology (57Q70)

Abstract: We prove a discrete version of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theorem for discrete Morse functions and the recently introduced simplicial Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of a simplicial complex. To accomplish this, a new notion of critical object of a discrete Morse function is presented, which generalizes the usual concept of critical simplex (in the sense of R. Forman). We show that the non-existence of such critical objects guarantees the strong homotopy equivalence (in the Barmak and Minian's sense) between the corresponding sublevel complexes. Finally, we establish that the number of critical objects of a discrete Morse function defined on

K

is an upper bound for the non-normalized simplicial Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of

K

.

Review text

The simplicial Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of a simplicial complex is a variant of the well-known Lusternik-Schnirelmann category that was introduced in [\textit{D. Fernández-Ternero} et al., Topology Appl. 194, 37--50 (2015; Zbl 1327.55004)]. It relies on the notion of contiguous maps and is invariant under strong homotopy equivalences [\textit{J. A. Barmak} and \textit{E. G. Minian}, Discrete Comput. Geom. 47, No. 2, 301--328 (2012; Zbl 1242.57019)]. In the article under consideration, the authors introduce the notion of \textit{critical objects} of a discrete Morse function \(f\) defined on a simplicial complex \(K\). These critical objects are the critical simplices of \(f\) (in the sense of \textit{R. Forman} [Adv. Math. 134, No. 1, 90--145 (1998; Zbl 0896.57023)]) together with \textit{critical pairs} of simplices of \(K\) which are induced by the gradient vector field of \(f\). This notion of critical objects permits them to obtain a simplicial version of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theorem, which is the main result of the article and states that if \(K\) is a simplicial complex and \(f\colon K\to \mathbb{R}\) is a discrete Morse function then the simplicial Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of \(K\) is less than the cardinality of the set of critical objects of \(f\). In addition, the authors give many examples which illustrate several concepts and results of the article.

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