No Triangulation Without Representation: Generalization in Topological Deep Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Schmidt, Johannes S., Carrasco, Martin, Röell, Ernst, Wolf, Guy, Blaser, Nello, Rieck, Bastian
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Schmidt, Johannes S.
Carrasco, Martin
Röell, Ernst
Wolf, Guy
Blaser, Nello
Rieck, Bastian
author_facet Schmidt, Johannes S.
Carrasco, Martin
Röell, Ernst
Wolf, Guy
Blaser, Nello
Rieck, Bastian
contents Despite an ever-increasing interest in topological deep learning models that target higher-order datasets, there is no consensus on how to evaluate such models. This is exacerbated by the fact that topological objects permit operations, such as structural refinements, that are not appropriate for graph data. In this work, we extend MANTRA, a benchmark dataset containing manifold triangulations, to a larger class of manifolds with more diverse homeomorphism types. We show that, unlike prior claims, both graph neural networks (GNNs) and higher-order message passing (HOMP) methods can saturate the benchmark. However, we find that this is contingent on the right representation and feature assignment, emphasizing their importance in baseline models. We thus provide a novel evaluation protocol based on representational diversity and triangulation refinement. Surprisingly, we find no indication that existing models are capable of generalizing beyond the combinatorial structure of the data. This points towards a research gap in developing models that understand topological structure independent of scale. Our work thus provides the necessary scaffolding to evaluate future models and enable the development of topology-aware inductive biases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_06467
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle No Triangulation Without Representation: Generalization in Topological Deep Learning
Schmidt, Johannes S.
Carrasco, Martin
Röell, Ernst
Wolf, Guy
Blaser, Nello
Rieck, Bastian
Machine Learning
Algebraic Topology
Despite an ever-increasing interest in topological deep learning models that target higher-order datasets, there is no consensus on how to evaluate such models. This is exacerbated by the fact that topological objects permit operations, such as structural refinements, that are not appropriate for graph data. In this work, we extend MANTRA, a benchmark dataset containing manifold triangulations, to a larger class of manifolds with more diverse homeomorphism types. We show that, unlike prior claims, both graph neural networks (GNNs) and higher-order message passing (HOMP) methods can saturate the benchmark. However, we find that this is contingent on the right representation and feature assignment, emphasizing their importance in baseline models. We thus provide a novel evaluation protocol based on representational diversity and triangulation refinement. Surprisingly, we find no indication that existing models are capable of generalizing beyond the combinatorial structure of the data. This points towards a research gap in developing models that understand topological structure independent of scale. Our work thus provides the necessary scaffolding to evaluate future models and enable the development of topology-aware inductive biases.
title No Triangulation Without Representation: Generalization in Topological Deep Learning
topic Machine Learning
Algebraic Topology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06467