Abstract simplices and their boundaries #
This file defines the abstract simplex spanned by a finite set of vertices and its boundary.
Both are PreAbstractSimplicialComplexes on the original ambient vertex type: this lets the
construction remember exactly which vertices occur, unlike AbstractSimplicialComplex, which
must contain every singleton of its ambient type.
The boundary consists of the nonempty proper subsets of the spanning vertex set. These constructions provide the standard models needed for the recursive definitions of combinatorial spheres and balls in layer 11 of the geometric-topology roadmap.
The definitions follow Rourke--Sanderson, Introduction to Piecewise-Linear Topology, Chapter 2.
Main definitions #
PreAbstractSimplicialComplex.simplex: the complex of nonempty subsets of a finite vertex set.PreAbstractSimplicialComplex.simplexBoundary: its proper faces.
The abstract simplex spanned by V: its faces are the nonempty subsets of V.
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The boundary of the abstract simplex spanned by V: its faces are the nonempty proper
subsets of V.
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A finite set is a face of a simplex boundary exactly when it is a nonempty proper subset of the spanning vertex set.
The spanning vertex set is not a face of its own boundary.
The boundary is a subcomplex of the simplex.
The boundary of a simplex with nonempty spanning set is a strict subcomplex of the simplex.
The boundary of the empty simplex has no faces.
The boundary of a one-vertex simplex is empty.
The simplex on V is contained in a complex exactly when V is a face of the complex
whenever V is nonempty. For V = ∅ the simplex is ⊥, so it is contained in every complex.
Enlarging the spanning vertex set enlarges the boundary.
The faces of a simplex are its boundary faces together with the spanning set itself, the latter only when the spanning set is nonempty.