Computing the Matching Distance of 2-Parameter Persistence Modules from Critical Values

Abstract: The exact computation of the matching distance for multi-parameter persistence modules is an active area of research in computational topology. Achieving an easily obtainable exact computation of this distance would allow multi-parameter persistent homology to be a viable option for data analysis. In this paper, we provide theoretical results for the computation of the matching distance in two dimensions along with a geometric interpretation of the lines through parameter space realizing this distance. The crucial point of the method we propose is that it can be easily implemented.