Deformations, Derived Categories, and Multiparameter Persistence: A Theoretical Framework

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Angel, Mauricio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Angel, Mauricio
author_facet Angel, Mauricio
contents Multiparameter persistent homology has emerged as a powerful generalization of topological data analysis, capable of encoding multivariate filtrations. However, the algebraic complexity of multiparameter persistence modules, marked by wild representation type, poses fundamental obstacles to classification, stability, and interpretability. In this paper, we propose a unifying theoretical framework that brings together deformation theory and derived categories to study multiparameter persistence from a geometric perspective. A central contribution is a comprehensive conceptual dictionary (Table 1) bridging topological data analysis and deformation theory, which interprets perturbations as deformations and stability as smoothness of moduli spaces. We present explicit calculations of extension groups \(Ext^1\) for concrete multiparameter modules over small posets, revealing diverse behaviors ranging from unexpected rigidity to large families of deformations. We further investigate obstruction classes in \(Ext^2\); while these vanish in our specific examples over the square poset, we demonstrate their inevitability in larger grids (e.g., \(3 \times 3\)) via global dimension arguments, highlighting a qualitative transition in the geometry of moduli spaces. Finally, we formulate a unified conjecture relating the interleaving distance to derived convolution metrics, establishing a bilipschitz equivalence at the level of the derived category of persistence modules. Together, these results shift the perspective on multiparameter persistence from static classification to the geometry of families, opening new avenues for invariants, stability theorems, and moduli-based analysis.
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spellingShingle Deformations, Derived Categories, and Multiparameter Persistence: A Theoretical Framework
Angel, Mauricio
Algebraic Topology
Differential Geometry
Multiparameter persistent homology has emerged as a powerful generalization of topological data analysis, capable of encoding multivariate filtrations. However, the algebraic complexity of multiparameter persistence modules, marked by wild representation type, poses fundamental obstacles to classification, stability, and interpretability. In this paper, we propose a unifying theoretical framework that brings together deformation theory and derived categories to study multiparameter persistence from a geometric perspective. A central contribution is a comprehensive conceptual dictionary (Table 1) bridging topological data analysis and deformation theory, which interprets perturbations as deformations and stability as smoothness of moduli spaces. We present explicit calculations of extension groups \(Ext^1\) for concrete multiparameter modules over small posets, revealing diverse behaviors ranging from unexpected rigidity to large families of deformations. We further investigate obstruction classes in \(Ext^2\); while these vanish in our specific examples over the square poset, we demonstrate their inevitability in larger grids (e.g., \(3 \times 3\)) via global dimension arguments, highlighting a qualitative transition in the geometry of moduli spaces. Finally, we formulate a unified conjecture relating the interleaving distance to derived convolution metrics, establishing a bilipschitz equivalence at the level of the derived category of persistence modules. Together, these results shift the perspective on multiparameter persistence from static classification to the geometry of families, opening new avenues for invariants, stability theorems, and moduli-based analysis.
title Deformations, Derived Categories, and Multiparameter Persistence: A Theoretical Framework
topic Algebraic Topology
Differential Geometry
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10361