Subdivision of Simplicial Complex

TL;DR

This paper thoroughly explores subdivisions of simplicial complexes, especially barycentric subdivision, demonstrating how repeated subdivision refines the mesh and preserves topological properties, with detailed examples and proofs.

Contribution

It provides formal definitions, construction methods, and proofs for subdivisions, including barycentric and derived subdivisions, emphasizing their properties and applications.

Findings

Repeated barycentric subdivision reduces mesh size below any scale.

Subdivision preserves the topological realization of complexes.

Explicit examples illustrate subdivision structures and properties.

Abstract

This paper provides a self-contained exploration of subdivisions of simplicial complexes, with emphasis on barycentric subdivision. We present formal definitions of subdivisions, show how the realization of a complex is preserved under subdivision, and illustrate these concepts with explicit examples and detailed diagrams. The paper develops the general method of constructing subdivisions by starring from interior points, leading to the standard barycentric and derived subdivisions. We give precise statements and proofs demonstrating that repeated barycentric subdivision reduces the mesh below any prescribed scale, ensuring compatibility with given metrics and enabling applications such as simplicial approximation and homological analysis. Examples and TikZ illustrations clarify the structure of iterated subdivisions for finite complexes, highlighting their geometric and topological properties.