Using membrane computing for effective homology

Abstract

Effective Homology is an algebraic-topological method based on the computational concept of chain homotopy equivalence on a cell complex. Using this algebraic data structure, Effective Homology gives answers to some important computability problems in Algebraic Topology. In a discrete context, Effective Homology can be seen as a combinatorial layer given by a forest graph structure spanning every cell of the complex. In this paper, by taking as input a pixel-based 2D binary object, we present a logarithmic-time uniform solution for describing a chain homotopy operator ϕ for its adjacency graph. This solution is based on Membrane Computing techniques applied to the spanning forest problem and it can be easily extended to higher dimensions.