On the Vietoris-Rips Complexes of Integer Lattices

TL;DR

This paper investigates the topological properties of Vietoris-Rips complexes of integer lattices under the Manhattan metric, proving contractibility for certain parameters, and characterizing their homotopy types and connectivity.

Contribution

It proves Zaremsky's conjecture for dimensions up to 5, establishes contractibility for all $r \, \geq \, n$, and determines the homotopy type of complexes at $r=2$.

Findings

Proved contractibility of complexes for $n \leq 5$ and $r \geq n$.

Established contractibility for all $r \geq 10$.

Determined the homotopy type of complexes at $r=2$ as a wedge of infinite 3-spheres.

Abstract

For a metric space $X$ and $r \geq 0$, the Vietoris-Rips complex $\mathcal{VR}(X;r)$ is a simplicial complex whose simplices are finite subsets of $X$ with diameter at most $r$. Vietoris-Rips complexes have applications in various places, including data analysis, geometric group theory, sensor networks, etc. Consider the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^n$ as a metric space equipped with the $d_1$-metric (the Manhattan metric or standard word metric in the Cayley graph). Ziga Virk proved that if either $r \geq n^2(2n-1)$, or $1\leq n \leq 3$ and $r \geq n$, then the complex $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible, and posed a question if $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible for all $r \geq n$. Recently, Matthew Zaremsky improved Ziga's result and proved that $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible if $r \geq n^2+ n-1$. Further, he conjectured that $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible for all $r \geq n$. We prove Zaremsky's conjecture for $n \leq 5$, i.e., we prove that $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible if $n \leq 5$ and $r \geq n$. Further, we prove that $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is contractible for $r \geq 10$. We determine the homotopy type of $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;2)$, and show that these complexes are homotopy equivalent to a wedge of countably infinite copies of $\mathbb{S}^3$. We also show that $\mathcal{VR}(\mathbb{Z}^n;r)$ is simply connected for $r \geq 2$.