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11 Simplicial Complex

A simplicial complex is a collection of simplices glued together along their boundaries in a way that satisfies two properties: 1) every face of a simplex in the complex is also in the complex, and 2) the intersection of any two simplices in the complex is a face of both of them. A simplex is the generalization of a triangle to any number of dimensions - a 0-simplex is a point, a 1-simplex is a line, a 2-simplex is a solid triangle, and an n-simplex is a solid shape with n+1 vertices. Simplicial complexes allow us to model topological spaces and study their properties by decomposing them into simplices.

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37 views7 pages

11 Simplicial Complex

A simplicial complex is a collection of simplices glued together along their boundaries in a way that satisfies two properties: 1) every face of a simplex in the complex is also in the complex, and 2) the intersection of any two simplices in the complex is a face of both of them. A simplex is the generalization of a triangle to any number of dimensions - a 0-simplex is a point, a 1-simplex is a line, a 2-simplex is a solid triangle, and an n-simplex is a solid shape with n+1 vertices. Simplicial complexes allow us to model topological spaces and study their properties by decomposing them into simplices.

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mobius
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What are...simplicial complexes?

Or: Triangles everywhere


Lots of triangles

I A 0 dimensional triangle is a point

I A 1 dimensional triangle is a line

I A 2 dimensional triangle is a solid triangle

I A 3 dimensional triangle is a solid tetrahedron

I An n dimensional triangle is called an n simplex


Lots of triangles glued together

I The boundary of an n simplex is made of n − 1 simplex

I Gluing simplices along their boundary gives simplicial complexes


Not everything is allowed

(a) is ok but (b), (c) and (d) are not allowed


For completeness: A formal definition

An n simplex for v0 , ..., vn is smallest convex set in Rn+1 containing v0 , ..., vn that
do not lie in a hyperplane of dimension less than n

If we delete one of the n + 1 vertices of an n simplex, then the remaining n vertices


span an (n − 1) simplex, called a face 3d terminology
Sometimes one needs an orientation, but this is ignored in this video

A simplicial complex ∆ is a set of simplices satisfying


I Every face of a simplex from ∆ is also in ∆ (b) from before

I A 6= ∅ intersection of 2 simplices in ∆ is a face of both (c),(d) from before


Abstract simplicial complexes

I Abstract simplicial complexes ∆ab are collections of non-empty sets satisfying


(X ∈ ∆ab and Y ⊂ X ) ⇒ (Y ∈ ∆ab )
These can be geometrically realized into simplicial complexes

I Example The abstract standard 2-simplex and its geometric realization:


( )
2 [v0 ], [v1 ], [v2 ], [v0 , v1 ],
∆ab = !
[v0 , v2 ], [v1 , v2 ], [v0 , v1 , v2 ]
Thank you for your attention!

I hope that was of some help.

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