Computational Complexity of the Interleaving Distance

The interleaving distance is arguably the most prominent distance measure in topological data analysis. In this paper, we provide bounds on the computational complexity of determining the interleaving distance in several settings. We show that the interleaving distance is NP-hard to compute for persistence modules valued in the category of vector spaces. In the specific setting of multidimensional persistent homology we show that the problem is at least as hard as a matrix invertibility problem. Furthermore, this allows us to conclude that the interleaving distance of interval decomposable modules depends on the characteristic of the field. Persistence modules valued in the category of sets are also studied. As a corollary, we obtain that the isomorphism problem for Reeb graphs is graph isomorphism complete.Comment: Discussion related to the characteristic of the field added. Paper accepted to the 34th International Symposium on Computational Geometr

Computing the interleaving distance is NP-hard

We show that computing the interleaving distance between two multi-graded persistence modules is NP-hard. More precisely, we show that deciding whether two modules are $1$-interleaved is NP-complete, already for bigraded, interval decomposable modules. Our proof is based on previous work showing that a constrained matrix invertibility problem can be reduced to the interleaving distance computation of a special type of persistence modules. We show that this matrix invertibility problem is NP-complete. We also give a slight improvement of the above reduction, showing that also the approximation of the interleaving distance is NP-hard for any approximation factor smaller than $3$. Additionally, we obtain corresponding hardness results for the case that the modules are indecomposable, and in the setting of one-sided stability. Furthermore, we show that checking for injections (resp. surjections) between persistence modules is NP-hard. In conjunction with earlier results from computational algebra this gives a complete characterization of the computational complexity of one-sided stability. Lastly, we show that it is in general NP-hard to approximate distances induced by noise systems within a factor of 2.Comment: 25 pages. Several expository improvements and minor corrections. Also added a section on noise system

Kaluza-Klein description of geometric phases in graphene

In this paper, we use the Kaluza-Klein approach to describe topological defects in a graphene layer. Using this approach, we propose a geometric model allowing to discuss the quantum flux in $K$-spin subspace. Within this model, the graphene layer with a topological defect is described by a four-dimensional metric, where the deformation produced by the topological defect is introduced via the three-dimensional part of metric tensor, while an Abelian gauge field is introduced via an extra dimension. We use this new geometric model to discuss the arising of topological quantum phases in a graphene layer with a topological defect.Comment: 16 pages, version accepted to Annals of Physic

Abelian geometric phase for a Dirac neutral particle in a Lorentz symmetry violation environment

We introduce a new term into the Dirac equation based on the Lorentz symmetry violation background in order to make a theoretical description of the relativistic quantum dynamics of a spin-half neutral particle, where the wave function of the neutral particle acquires a relativistic Abelian quantum phase given by the interaction between a fixed time-like 4-vector background and crossed electric and magnetic fields, which is analogous to the geometric phase obtained by Wei \textit{et al} [H. Wei, R. Han and X. Wei, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{75}, 2071 (1995)] for a spinless neutral particle with an induced electric dipole moment. We also discuss the flux dependence of energy levels of bound states analogous to the Aharonov-Bohm effect for bound states.Comment: 16 pages, no figure