Ensnarled: Topological linkage of spatially embedded network pairs

oleh: Felix Kramer, Carl D. Modes

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: American Physical Society 2023-09-01

Deskripsi

The observation, design, and analysis of meshlike networks in bionics, polymer physics, and biological systems has brought forward an extensive catalog of fascinating structures of which a subgroup share a particular, yet critically under appreciated attribute: being embedded in space such that one would not be able to pull them apart without prior removal of a subset of edges, a state which we here call ensnarled. In this study we elaborate on a graph-theoretical method to analyze ensnarled finite, 2-component nets on the basis of Hopf-link identification. Doing so we are able to construct an edge priority operator Λ, derived from the linking numbers of the spatial graphs' cycle bases, which highlights critical edges. On its basis we developed a greedy algorithm which identifies optimal edge removals to achieve unlinking, allowing for the establishment of a topological metric characterizing the state of ensnarled network pairs.