Generalizing the concept of a Reeb graph, the Reeb space of a multivariate continuous mapping identifies points of the domain that belong to a common component of the preimage of a point in the range. We study the local and global structure of this space for generic, piecewise linear mappings on a combinatorial manifold. Categories and Subject Descriptors F.2.2 [Analysis of Algorithms and Problem Complexity]: Nonnumerical Algorithms and Problems--Computations on discrete structures, Geometrical problems and computations General Terms Algorithms, Theory Keywords Smooth and PL topology, combinatorial manifolds, Reeb spaces, cone neighborhoods, triangulations, stratifications, algorithms.
Herbert Edelsbrunner, John Harer, Amit K. Patel