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Justin Curry

Publications and source records attributed to Justin Curry.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

Moduli Spaces of Morse Functions for Persistence

We consider different notions of equivalence for Morse functions on the sphere in the context of persistent homology, and introduce new invariants to study these equivalence classes. These new invariants are as simple, but more discerning than existing topological invariants, such as persistence barcodes and Reeb graphs. We give a method to relate any two Morse--Smale vector fields on the sphere by a sequence of fundamental moves by considering graph-equivalent Morse functions. We also explore the combinatorially rich world of height-equivalent Morse functions, considered as height functions of embedded spheres in $\mathbf R^3$. Their level-set invariant, a poset generated by nested disks and annuli from levels sets, gives insight into the moduli space of Morse functions sharing the same persistence barcode.

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arXiv2020

A Relative Theory of Interleavings

The interleaving distance, although originally developed for persistent homology, has been generalized to measure the distance between functors modeled on many posets or even small categories. Existing theories require that such a poset have a superlinear family of translations or a similar structure. However, many posets of interest to topological data analysis, such as zig-zag posets and the face relation poset of a cell-complex, do not admit interesting translations, and consequently don't admit a nice theory of interleavings. In this paper we show how one can side-step this limitation by providing a general theory where one maps to a poset that does admit interesting translations, such as the lattice of down sets, and then defines interleavings relative to this map. Part of our theory includes a rigorous notion of discretization or "pixelization" of poset modules, which in turn we use for interleaving inference. We provide an approximation condition that in the setting of lattices gives rise to two possible pixelizations, both of which are guaranteed to be close in the interleaving distance. Finally, we conclude by considering interleaving inference for cosheaves over a metric space and give an explicit description of interleavings over a grid structure on Euclidean space.

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arXiv2019

Functors on Posets Left Kan Extend to Cosheaves: an Erratum

In this note we give a self-contained proof of a fundamental statement in the study of cosheaves over a poset. Specifically, if a functor has domain a poset and co-domain a co-complete category, then the left Kan extension of that functor along the embedding of the domain poset into its poset of down-sets is a cosheaf. This proof is meant to replace the mistaken proofs published in the author's thesis and an article on dualities exchanging cellular sheaves and cosheaves.

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arXiv2019

When Left and Right Turns Inside Out: A Geometric and Categorical Introduction to an Inverse Problem in Persistence

In this paper we introduce the problem of counting embedded spheres in R^3 whose projection to the z-axis yields a level set barcode of a particular type. Two embedded spheres are considered height equivalent if they are related by a z-level set preserving isotopy. A formula previously used to count functions on the interval with the same sub-level set persistence barcode provides a lower bound on height equivalence classes with the same level set persistence. A conjectured upper bound is provided as well.

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arXiv2019

The Fiber of the Persistence Map for Functions on the Interval

In this paper we study functions on the interval that have the same persistent homology. By introducing an equivalence relation modeled after topological conjugacy, which we call graph-equivalence, a precise enumeration of functions with the same persistent homology is given, inviting comparisons with Arnold's Calculus of Snakes. The equivalence classes used here are indexed by chiral merge trees, which are binary merge trees where a left-right ordering of the children of each vertex is given. Enumeration of merge trees and chiral merge trees with the same persistence makes essential use of the Elder Rule (a criterion for pairing critical points), which is given a new proof here as well.

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arXiv2016

Dualities between Cellular Sheaves and Cosheaves

This paper affirms a conjecture of MacPherson: that the derived category of cellular sheaves is equivalent to the derived category of cellular cosheaves. We give a self-contained treatment of cellular sheaves and cosheaves and note that certain classical dualities give rise to an exchange of sheaves with cosheaves. Following a result of Pitts that states that cosheaves are cocontinuous functors on the category of sheaves, we use the derived equivalence provided here to gain a novel description of compactly supported sheaf cohomology.

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arXiv2015

Discrete Morse theory for computing cellular sheaf cohomology

Sheaves and sheaf cohomology are powerful tools in computational topology, greatly generalizing persistent homology. We develop an algorithm for simplifying the computation of cellular sheaf cohomology via (discrete) Morse-theoretic techniques. As a consequence, we derive efficient techniques for distributed computation of (ordinary) cohomology of a cell complex.

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arXiv2015

Topological Data Analysis and Cosheaves

This paper contains an expository account of persistent homology and its usefulness for topological data analysis. An alternative foundation for level-set persistence is presented using sheaves and cosheaves.

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arXiv2014

Sheaves, Cosheaves and Applications

This thesis develops the theory of sheaves and cosheaves with an eye towards applications in science and engineering. To provide a theory that is computable, we focus on a combinatorial version of sheaves and cosheaves called cellular sheaves and cosheaves, which are finite families of vector spaces and maps parametrized by a cell complex. We develop cellular (co)sheaves as a new tool for topological data analysis, network coding and sensor networks. A foundation for multi-dimensional level-set persistent homology is laid via constructible cosheaves, which are equivalent to representations of MacPherson's entrance path category. By proving a van Kampen theorem, we give a direct proof of this equivalence. A cosheaf version of the i'th derived pushforward of the constant sheaf along a definable map is constructed directly as a representation of this category. We go on to clarify the relationship of cellular sheaves to cosheaves by providing a formula that defines a derived equivalence, which in turn recovers Verdier duality. Compactly-supported sheaf cohomology is expressed as the coend with the image of the constant sheaf through this equivalence. The equivalence is further used to establish relations between sheaf cohomology and a herein newly introduced theory of cellular sheaf homology. Inspired to provide fast algorithms for persistence, we prove that the derived category of cellular sheaves over a 1D cell complex is equivalent to a category of graded sheaves. Finally, we introduce the interleaving distance as an extended pseudo-metric on the category of sheaves. We prove that global sections partition the space of sheaves into connected components. We conclude with an investigation into the geometry of the space of constructible sheaves over the real line, which we relate to the bottleneck distance in persistence.

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