Computing invariants for multipersistence via spectral systems and effective homology

Abstract Both spectral sequences and persistent homology are tools in algebraic topology defined from filtrations of objects (e.g. topological spaces or simplicial complexes) indexed over the set Z of integer numbers. A recent work has shown the details of the relation between both concepts. Moreover, generalizations of both concepts have been proposed which originate from a different choice of the set of indices of the filtration, producing the new notions of multipersistence and spectral system. In this paper, we show that these notions are also related, generalizing results valid in the case of filtrations over Z . By using this relation and some previous programs for computing spectral systems, we have developed a new module for the Kenzo system computing multipersistence. We also present a birth-death descriptor and a new invariant providing information on multifiltrations. This new invariant, in some cases, is able to provide more information than the rank invariant. We show some applications of our algorithms to spaces of infinite type via the effective homology technique, where the performance has also been improved by means of discrete vector fields.