Vietoris--Rips complexes of ellipses at larger scales

Abstract

For $X$ a metric space and $r>0$, the Vietoris--Rips simplicial complex $\mathrm{VR}(X;r)$ has $X$ as its vertex set, and a finite subset $\sigma \subseteq X$ as a simplex whenever the diameter of $\sigma$ is less than $r$. In ``On Vietoris--Rips complexes of ellipses'', the authors studied the homotopy types of Vietoris--Rips complexes of ellipses $E_a=\{(x,y)\in {\mathbb{R}}^2|(x/a{)}^2+y^2=1\}$ of small eccentricity, meaning $1<a<\sqrt{2}$, at small scales $r<\frac{4\sqrt{3}{a}^2}{3a^2+1}$. In this paper, we further investigate the homotopy types that appear at larger scales. In particular, we identify the scale parameters $r$, as a function of the eccentricity $a$, for which the Vietoris--Rips complex $\mathrm{VR}(E_a;r)$ is homotopy equivalent to a $3$-sphere, to a wedge sum of $4$-spheres, or to a $5$-sphere.