A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

ROBIN FORMAN

0.

Introdu tion

A number of questions from a variety of areas of mathemati s lead one to the

problem of analyzing the topology of a simpli ial omplex. We will see some examples
in these notes. However, there are few general te hniques available to aid us in this
study. On the other hand, some very general theories have been developed for the
study of smooth manifolds. One of the most powerful, and useful, of these theories
is Morse Theory.
There is a very lose relationship between the topology of a smooth manifold M and
the riti al points of a smooth fun tion f on M . For example, if f is ompa t, then M
must a hieve a maximum and a minimum. Morse Theory is a far-rea hing extension
of this fa t. Milnor's beautiful book [30 is the standard referen e on this subje t.
In this paper we present an adaptation of Morse Theory that may be applied to any
simpli ial omplex (or more general ell omplex). There have been other adaptations
of Morse Theory that an be applied to ombinatorial spa es. For example, a Morse
theory of pie ewise linear fun tions appears in [26 and the very powerful \Stratied
Morse Theory" was developed by Goresky and Ma Pherson [19,[20. These theories,
espe ially the latter, have ea h been su essfully applied to prove some very striking
results.
We take a slightly dierent approa h than that taken in these referen es. Rather
than hoosing a suitable lass of ontinuous fun tions on our spa es to play the role
of Morse fun tions, we will be assigning a single number to ea h ell of our omplex,

This work was partially supported by the National S ien e Foundation.

1

ROBIN FORMAN

and all asso iated pro esses will be dis rete. Hen e, we have hosen the name dis rete
Morse Theory for the ideas we will des ribe.
Of ourse, these dierent approa hes to ombinatorial Morse Theory are not distin t. One an sometimes translate results from one of these theories to another by
\smoothing out" a dis rete Morse fun tion, or by arefully repla ing a ontinuous
fun tion by a dis rete set of its values. However, that is not the path we will follow
in this paper. Instead, we show that even without introdu ing any ontinuity, one
an re reate, in the ategory of ombinatorial spa es, a omplete theory that aptures
many of the intri a ies of the smooth theory, and an be used as an ee tive tool for
a wide variety of ombinatorial and topologi al problems.
The goal this paper is to present an overview of the subje t of dis rete Morse
Theory that is su ient both to understand the major appli ations of the theory
to ombinatori s, and to apply the the theory to new problems. We will not be
presenting theorems in their most re ent or most general form, and simple examples
will often take the pla e of proofs. We hope to onvey the fa t that the theory is really
very simple, and there is not mu h that one needs to know before one an be ome a
\user". Those interested in a more omplete presentation of the theory an onsult
the referen e [10. Earlier surveys of this work have appeared in [9 and [13.
1.

CW Complexes

The main theorems of dis rete (and smooth) Morse Theory are best stated in
the language of CW omplexes, so we begin with an overview of the basi s of su h
omplexes. J.H.C. Whitehead introdu ed CW omplexes in his foundational work on
homotopy theory, and all of the results in this se tion are due to him. The reader
should onsult [28 for a very omplete introdu tion to this topi . In this paper we
will onsider only nite CW omplexes, so many of the subtleties of the subje t will
not appear.
The building blo ks of CW omplexes are ells. Let B d denote the losed unit ball
in d-dimensional Eu lidean spa e. That is, B d = fx 2 E d s:t:jxj  1g. The boundary

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

of B d is the unit (d 1)-sphere S (d 1) = fx 2 E d s:t:jxj = 1g. A d- ell is a topologi al

spa e whi h is homeomorphi to B d . If  is d- ell, then we denote by _ the subset
of  orresponding to S (d 1)  B d under any homeomorphism between B d and  . A
ell is a topologi al spa e whi h is a d- ell for some d.
The basi operation of CW omplexes is the notion of atta hing a ell. Let X be a
topologi al spa e,  a d- ell and f : _ ! X a ontinuous map. We let X [f  denote
the disjoint union of X and  quotiented out by the equivalen e relation that ea h
point s 2 _ is identied with f (s) 2 X . We refer to this operation by saying that
X [f  is the result of atta hing the ell  to X . The map f is alled the atta hing
map.
We emphasize that the atta hing map must be dened on all of _ . That is, the
entire boundary of  must be "glued" to X . For example, if X is a ir le, then Figure
1.1(i) shows one possible result of atta hing a 1- ell to X . Atta hing a 1- ell to X
annot lead to the spa e illustrated in Figure 1.1(ii) sin e the entire boundary of the
1- ell has not been "glued"to X .

(i)

(ii)

(i). A 1- ell atta hed to a ir le. (ii). This is not a 1- ell atta hed to a ir le

Figure 1.1.
We are now ready for our main denition. A nite CW omplex is any topologi al
spa e X su h that there exists a nite nested sequen e
(1.1)

;  X0  X1 


 Xn = X

ROBIN FORMAN

su h that for ea h i = 0; 1; 2; : : : ; n, Xi is the result of atta hing a ell to X(i 1) .

Note that this denition requires that X0 be a 0- ell. If X is a CW omplex, we
refer to any sequen e of spa es as in (1.1) as a CW de omposition of X . Suppose that
in the CW de omposition (1.1), of the n + 1 ells that are atta hed, exa tly d are
d- ells. Then we say that the CW omplex X has a CW de omposition onsisting of
d d- ells for every d.
We note that a ( losed) d-simplex is a d- ell. Thus a nite simpli ial omplex is a
CW omplex, and has a CW de omposition in whi h the ells are pre isely the losed
simpli es.
In Figure 1.2 we demonstrate a CW de omposition of a 2-dimensional torus whi h,
beginning with the 0- ell, requires atta hing two 1- ells and then one 2- ell. Here
we an see one of the most ompelling reasons for onsidering CW omplexes rather
than just simpli ial omplexes. Every simpli ial de omposition of the 2-torus has at
least 7 verti es, 21 edges and 14 triangles.

X0

X1

X2

X3

A CW de omposition of a 2-torus

Figure 1.2.
It may seem that quite a bit has been lost in the transition from simpli ial omplexes
to general CW omplexes. After all, a simpli ial omplex is ompletely des ribed by
a nite amount of ombinatorial data. On the other hand, the onstru tion of a CW
de omposition requires the hoi e of a number of ontinuous maps. However, if one
is only on erned with the homotopy type of the resulting CW omplex, then things
begin to look a bit more manageable. Namely, the homotopy type of X [f  depends
only on the homotopy type of X and the homotopy las of f .

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

Theorem 1.3. Let h : X ! X 0 denote a homotopy equivalen e,  a ell, and f1 :

_ ! X , f2 : _ ! X 0 two ontinuous maps. If h f1 is homotopi to f2 , then X [f 
and X 0 [f  are homotopy equivalent.
1

An important spe ial ase is when h is the identity map. We state this ase separately
for future referen e.

Corollary 1.4. Let X be a topologi al spa e,  a ell, and f1 ; f2 : _ ! X two

ontinuous maps. If f1 and f2 are homotopi , then X [f  and X [f  are homotopy
equivalent.
1

(See Theorem 2.3 on page 120 of [28.) Therefore, the homotopy type of a CW omplex
is determined by the homotopy lass of the atta hing maps. Sin e homotopy lases
are dis rete obje ts, we have now re aptured a bit of the ombinatorial atmosphere
that we seemingly lost when generalizing from simpli ial omplexes to CW omplexes.
Let us now present some examples.
1) Suppose X is a topologi al spa e whi h has a CW de omposition onsisting of
exa tly one 0- ell and one d- ell. Then X has a CW de omposition ;  X0  X1 = X .
The spa e X0 must be the 0- ell, and X = X1 is the result of atta hing the d- ell
to X0 . Sin e X0 onsists of a single point, the only possible atta hing map is the
onstant map. Thus X is onstru ted from taking a losed d-ball and identifying all
of the points on its boundary. One an easily see that this implies that the resulting
spa e is a d-sphere.
2) Suppose X is a topologi al spa e whi h has a CW de omposition onsisting of
exa tly one 0- ell and n d- ells. Then X has a CW de omposition as in (1.1) su h
that X0 is the 0- ell, and for ea h i = 1; 2; : : : ; n Xi is the result of atta hing a d- ell
to X(i 1) . From the previous example, we know that X1 is a d-sphere. The spa e X2
is onstru ted by atta hing a d- ell to X1 . The atta hing map is a ontinuous map
from a (d 1)-sphere to X1 . Every map of the (d 1)-sphere into X1 is homotopi to
a onstant map (sin e (d 1) (X1 ) 
= 0). If the atta hing map is a tually
= (d 1) (S d ) 
a onstant map, then it is easy to see that the spa e X2 is the wedge of two d-spheres,
denoted by S d ^ S d . (The wedge of a olle tion of topologi al spa es is the spa e

ROBIN FORMAN

resulting from hoosing a point in ea h spa e, taking the disjoint union of the spa es,
and identifying all of the hosen points.) Sin e the atta hing map must be homotopi
to a onstant map, Corollary 1.4 implies that X2 is homotopy equivalent to a wedge
of two d-spheres.
When onstru ting X3 by atta hing a d- ell to X2 , the relevant information is a
map from S d 1 to X2 , and the homotopy type of the resulting spa e is determined
by the homotopy lass of this map. All su h maps are homotopi to a onstant map
(sin e d 1 (X2 ) 
= 0). Sin e X2 is homotopy equivalent to a wedge
= d 1 (S d ^ S d ) 
of two d-spheres, and the atta hing map is homotopi to a onstant map, it follows
from Theorem 1.3 that X3 is homotopy equivalent to the spa e that would result from
atta hing a d- ell to S d ^ S d via a onstant map, i.e. X3 is homotopy equivalent to a
wedge of three d-spheres.
Continuing in this fashion, we an see that X must be homotopy equivalent to a
wedge of n d-spheres.
The reader should not get the impression that the homotopy type of a CW omplex
is determined by the number of ells of ea h dimension. This is true only for very
few spa es (and the reader might enjoy oming up with some other examples). The
fa t that wedges of spheres an, in fa t, be identied by this numeri al data partly
explains why the main theorem of many papers in ombinatorial topology is that a
ertain simpli ial omplex is homotopy equivalent to a wedge of spheres. Namely
su h omplexes are the easiest to re ognize. However, that does not explain why so
many simpli ial omplexes that arise in ombinatori s are homotopy equivalent to a
wedge of spheres. I have often wondered if perhaps there is some deeper explanation
for this.
3) Suppose that X is a CW omplex whi h has a CW de omposition onsisting
of exa tly one 0- ell, one 1- ell and one 2- ell. Let us onsider a CW de omposition
for X with these ells: ;  X0  X1  X2 = X: We know that X0 is the 0- ell.
Suppose that X1 is the result of atta hing the 1- ell to X0 . Then X1 must be a ir le,
and X2 arises from atta hing a 2- ell to X1 . The atta hing map is a map from the

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

boundary of the 2- ell, i.e. a ir le, to X1 whi h is also a ir le. Up to homotopy, su h

a map is determined by its winding number, whi h an be taken to be a nonnegative
integer. If the winding number is 0, then without altering the homotopy type of
X we may assume that the atta hing map is a onstant map, whi h yields that
X  S 1 ^ S 2 (where  denotes homotopy equivalen e). If the winding number is
1 then without altering the homotopy type of X we may assume that the atta hing
map is a homeomorphism, in whi h ase X is a 2-dimensional dis . If the winding
number is 2, then without altering the homotopy type of X we may assume that the
atta hing map is a standard degree 2 mapping (i.e. that wraps one ir le around
the other twi e, with no ba ktra king). The reader should onvin e him/herself that
the result in this ase is that X is the 2-dimensional proje tive spa e P2 . In fa t,
ea h winding number results in a homotopi ally distin t spa e. These spa es an be
distinguished by their homology, sin e H1 (X; Z) for the spa e X resulting from an
atta hing map with winding number n is isomorphi to Z=nZ.
It seems that we are not quite done with this example, be ause we assumed that
the 1- ell was atta hed before the 2- ell, and we must onsider the alternative order,
in whi h X1 is the result of atta hing a 2- ell to X0 . In this ase, X1 is a 2-sphere,
and X = X2 is the result of atta hing a 1- ell to X1 . The atta hing map is a
map of S 0 into S 2 . Sin e S 2 is onne ted (i.e. 0 (S 2 ) = 0) all su h maps are
homotopi to a onstant map. Taking the atta hing map to be a onstant map
yields that X = S 1 ^ S 2 . Thus adding the ells in this order merely resulted in fewer
possibilities for the homotopy type of X . This is a general phenomenon. Generalizing
the argument we just presented, using the fa t that i (S d ) = 0 for i < d, yields the
following statement.

Theorem 1.5. Let

(1.2)

;  X0  X2 


 Xn = X

be a CW de omposition of a nite CW omplex X . Then X is homotopy equivalent to

a nite CW de omposition with pre isely the same number of ells of ea h dimension

ROBIN FORMAN

as in (1.2), and with the ells atta hed so that their dimensions form a nonde reasing
sequen e.

I rst learned of simpli ial omplexes in an algebrai topology ourse. They were
introdu ed as a ategory of topologi al spa es for whi h it was rather easy to dene
homology and ohomology, i.e. in terms the simpli al hain- and o hain- omplexes.
One might be on erned that in the transition from simpli ial omplexes to CW
omplexes we have lost this ability to easily ompute the homology. In fa t, mu h of
this omputability remains. Let X be a CW omplex with a xed CW de omposition.
Suppose that in this de omposition X is onstru ted from exa tly d ells of dimension
d for ea h d = 0; 1; 2; : : : ; n = dim(K ), and let Cd (X; Z) denote the spa e Z d (more
pre isely, Cd (X; Z) denotes the free abelian group generated by the d- ells of X ). The
following is one of the fundamental results in the theory of CW omplexes.

Theorem 1.6. There are boundary maps d : Cd (X; Z) ! Cd 1 (X; Z), for ea h d, so
that
d

d = 0

and su h that the resulting dierential omplex


n
! Cn(X; Z) !
Cn 1 (X; Z) n!


! C0 (X; Z) ! 0
1

al ulates the homology of X . That is, if we dene

Ker(d )
Hd (C;  ) =
Im(d+1 )
then for ea h d

Hd (C;  ) 
= Hd (X; Z)

where Hd (X; Z) denotes the singular homology of X .

The a tual denition of the boundary map  is slightly nontrivial and we will not
go into it here (see Ch. V se . 2 of [28 for the details). At rst it may seem that
without knowing this boundary map, there is little to be gained from Theorem 1.6.
In fa t, mu h an be learned from just knowing of the existen e of su h a boundary

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

map. For example, let us hoose a oe ient eld F , and tensor everything with F
to get a dierential omplex

n
! Cn(X; F ) !
Cn 1 (X; F ) n!


! C0 (X; F ) ! 0
whi h al ulates H (X; F ), where now Cp(X; F ) 
= F d . From basi linear algebra. we

an dedu e the following inequalities.

Theorem 1.7. Let X be a CW omplex with a xed CW de omposition with p ells

of dimension d for ea h d. Fix a oe ient eld F and let b denote the Betti numbers
of X with respe t to F , i.e. bd = dim(Hd (X; F )).
(i) (The Weak Morse Inequalities) For ea h d
d  bd :
(ii) Let (X ) denote the Euler hara teristi of X , i.e.

(X ) = b0

b1 + b2

::::

(X ) = 0

1 + 2

::::

then we also have

As the name \Weak Morse Inequalities" implies, this theorem an be strengthened.

The following inequalities, known as the \Strong Morse Inequalities" also follow from
standard linear algebra.

Theorem 1.8 (The Strong Morse Inequalities). With all notation as in Theorem 1.7,
for ea h d = 0; 1; 2; : : :
d

d 1 + d

+(

1)d 0  bd

bd 1 + bd

+(

1)d b0 :

Comparing Strong Morse Inequalities for onse utive values of d yields Theorem 1.7.
We mentioned earlier that a great benet of passing from simpli ial omplexes to
the more general CW omplexes is that one often an use many fewer ells. Let us
take another look at this phenomenon in light of the Morse inequalities. Consider the

10

ROBIN FORMAN

ase where X is a two-dimensional torus, so that with respe t to any oe ient eld
b0 = 1; b1 = 2; b2 = 1. From the weak Morse inequalities, we have that for any CW
de omposition,
0  b 0 = 1

1  b 1 = 2

2  b2 = 1:
A simpli ial de omposition is a spe ial ase of a CW de omposition, so these inequalities are satised when d denotes the number of d-simpli es in a xed simpli ial
de omposition. However, every simpli ial de omposition has at least 7 0-simpli es,
21 1-simpli es and 14 2-simpli es, so these inequalities are far from equality. It is
generally the ase that for a simpli ial de omposition these inequalities are very far
from optimal, and hen e are generally of little interest. On the other hand, earlier
we demonstrated a CW de omposition of the two-torus with exa tly one 0- ell, two
1- ells and one 2- ell. The inequalities tell us, in parti ular, that one annot build a
two-torus using fewer ells.
2.

The Basi s of Dis rete Morse Theory

The dis ussion in the previous se tion leads us to an important question. Suppose
one is given a nite simpli ial omplex X . Typi ally, we an expe t that X has a CW
de omposition with many fewer ells than in the original simpli ial de omposition.
How an one go about nding su h an \e ient" CW de omposition for X ? In
this se tion we present a te hnique, dis rete Morseh Theory, whi h an be useful
in su h an investigation. (We note that the ideas we will des ribe an be applied
with no modi ation at all to any nite regular CW omplex, and with only minor
modi ations to a general nite CW omplex. However, for simpli ity, in this paper
we will restri t attention to simpli ial omplexes.)
We begin by re alling that a nite simpli ial omplex is a nite set of verti es V ,
along with a set of subsets K of V . The set K satises two main properties:
1) V  K

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

11

2) If  2 K and    then  2 K .
By a slight abuse of notation, we will refer to the simpli ial omplex simply as K .
The elements of K are alled simpli es. If  2 K , and  ontains p + 1 verti es, then
we say that the dimension of  is p, and we will sometimes denote this by (p) . For
simpli es  and  we will use the notation  <  or  >  to indi ate that  is
a subset of  (thinking of  and  as subsets of V ), and say that  is a fa e of  .
We emphasize that at this point we will not be pla ing any restri tions on the nite
simpli ial omplexes under investigation. In parti ular, the omplexes need not be
manifolds (even though many of our examples will be). In se tion 9 we will brie y
indi ate how some our on lusions an be strengthened in the ase that the omplexes
are assumed to have additinal stru ture.
A dis rete Morse fun tion on K is a fun tion whi h, roughly speaking, assigns
higher numbers to higher dimensional simpli es, with at most one ex eption, lo ally,
at ea h simplex. More pre isely,

Denition 2.1. A fun tion

!R
is a dis rete Morse fun tion if for every (p) 2 K
(1) #f (p+1) >  j f ( )  f ()g  1;
f :K

and

(2) #f (p

1)

<  j f ( )  f (  ) g  1:

A simple example will serve to illustrate the denition. Consider the two omplexes
shown in Figure 2.2. Here we indi ate fun tions by writing next to ea h simplex the
value of the fun tion on that simplex. The fun tion (i) is not a dis rete Morse fun tion
as the edge f 1 (0) violates rule (2), sin e it has 2 lower dimensional \neighbors" on
whi h f takes on higher values, and the vertex f 1 (5) violates rule (1), sin e it has 2
higher dimensional \neighbors" on whi h f takes on lower values. The fun tion (ii)
is a Morse fun tion. Note that a dis rete Morse fun tion is not a ontinuous fun tion
on K . Rather, it is an assignment of a single number to ea h simplex.

12

ROBIN FORMAN

5
4

0
(ii)

(i)

(i). This is not a dis rete Morse fun tion. (ii). This is a dis rete Morse fun tion.

Figure 2.2.
The other main ingredient in Morse Theory is the notion of a riti al point.

Denition 2.3. A simplex (p) is riti al if

(1) #f (p+1) >  j f ( )  f ()g = 0;
and

(2) #f (p

1)

<  j f ( )  f (  ) g = 0:

For example, Figure 2.2(ii), the vertex f 1 (0) and the edge f 1 (5) are riti al, and
there are no other riti al simpli es.
We mention for later use that it follows from the axioms that a simplex annot
simultaneously fail both onditions in the test for riti ality.

Lemma 2.4. If K is a simpli ial omplex with a Morse fun tion f , then for any
simplex , either
(1) #f (p+1) >  j f ( )  f ()g = 0;
or

(2) #f (p

1)

<  j f ( )  f (  ) g = 0:

(See Lemma 2.5 of [10.) This lemma will play a ru ial role in Se tion 3.
We an now state the main theorem of dis rete Morse Theory.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

13

Theorem 2.5. Suppose M is a simpli ial omplex with a dis rete Morse fun tion.
Then M is homotopy equivalent to a CW omplex with exa tly one ell of dimension p
for ea h riti al simplex of dimension p.
Rather than present a proof of this theorem, we will ontent ourselves here with
a brief dis ussion of the main ideas. A dis rete Morse fun tion gives us a way to
build the simpli ial omplex by atta hing the simpli es in the order pres ribed by the
fun tion, i.e. adding rst the simpli es whi h are assigned the smallest values. More
pre isely, for any simpli ial omplex K with a dis rete Morse fun tion f , and any real
number , dene the level sub omplex K ( ) by

K ( ) = [f () [ :
That is, K ( ) is the sub omplex onsisting of all simpli es  of K su h that f () 
along with all of their fa es.
Theorem 2.5 follows from two basi lemmas.

Lemma 2.6. If there are no riti al simpli es  with f () 2 (a; b, then M (b) is
homotopy equivalent to M (a). (In fa t, M (b) ollapses to M (a) - this will be explained
later.)
Lemma 2.7. If there is a single riti al simplex  with f () 2 (a; b then there is a
map F : S (d 1) ! M (a), where d is the dimension of , su h that M (b) is homotopy
equivalent to M (a) [F B d .
In Figure 2.8 we illustrate all of the level sub omplexes in the ase that K is the
ir le triangulated with 3 edges and 3 verti es, and f is the Morse fun tion shown in
Figure 2.2 (ii). Here we an see why these lemmas are true.

14

ROBIN FORMAN

5
2

1
0

K(0)

1
0

K(1)=K(2)

K(3)=K(4)

3
0

K(5)=K

The level sub omplexes of the dis rete Morse fun tion shown in Figure 2.2(ii)

Figure 2.8.
Let us begin with Lemma 2.6. Consider the transition from K (0) to K (1). We
have not added any riti al simpli es, and, just as the lemma predi ts, K (0) and K (1)
are homotopy equivalent. Let us try to understand why the homotopy type did not
hange. To onstru t K (1) from K (0), we rst have to add the edge f 1 (1). This
edge is not riti al be ause it has a odimension-one fa e whi h is assigned a higher
value, namely the vertex f 1 (2). In order to have K (1) be a sub omplex, we must
also add this vertex. Thus we see that the edge f 1 (1) in K (1) has a free fa e, i.e.
a fa e whi h not the fa e of any other simplex in K (1). We an deformation retra t
K (1) to K (0) by "pushing in" the edge f 1 (1) starting at the vertex f 1 (2).
This is a very general phenomenon. That is, it follows from the axioms for a dis rete
Morse fun tion that for any simpli ial omplex with any dis rete Morse fun tion, when
passing from one level sub omplex to the next the non riti al simpli es are added in
pairs, ea h of whi h onsists of a simplex and a free fa e. Suppose that K2  K1 are
simpli ial omplexes, and K1 has exa tly two simpli es  and  that are not in K2 ,
where  is a free fa e of . Then it is easy to see that K2 is a deformation retra t
of K1 , and hen e K1 and K2 are homotopy equivalent (see Figure 2.9). This spe ial
sort of ombinatorial deformation retra t is alled a simpli al ollapse. If one an
transform a simpli ial omplex K1 into a sub omplex K2 by simpli ial ollapses, then

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

15

we say that K1 ollapses to K2 , and we indi ate this by K1 & K2 . Figure 2.10 shows
a 2-dimensional simplex ollapsing to one of its verti es.

1
A simpli ial ollapse.

Figure 2.9.

A 2-simplex ollapsing to a vertex.

Figure 2.10.
The pro ess of simpli ial ollapse was studied by J.H.C. Whitehead, and he dened
simple homotopy equivalen e to be the equivalen e relation generated by simpli ial
ollapse. This indi ates that dis rete Morse Theory may be parti ularly useful when
working in the ategory of simple homotopy equivalen e.
Now let us turn to Lemma 2.7 and investigate what happens when one adds a
riti al simplex, for example when making the transition from K (4) to K (5). In this
ase we are adding a riti al edge. We an see learly from the illustration that we
pass from K (4) to K (5) by atta hing a 1- ell, just as predi ted by Lemma 2.7. To
see why this works in general, onsider a riti al d-simplex . It follows from the
denition of a riti al simplex that ea h fa e of  is assigned a smaller value than

16

ROBIN FORMAN

, whi h implies in turn that ea h fa e of  appears in a previous level sub omplex.

Thus the entire boundary of  appears in an earlier level sub omplex, sothat when it
omes time to add , we must "glue it in" along its entire boundary. This is pre isely
the pro ess of atta hing a d- ell.
This ompletes our dis ussion of the proof.
Perhaps this is a good time to point out that one an dene a dis rete Morse
fun tion on any simpli ial omplex. Namely, one an simply let f () = dimension()
for ea h simplex . In this ase, every simplex is riti al, and Theorem 2.5 is a rather
uninteresting tautology. However, as we will see in examples, one an often onstru t
dis rete Morse fun tions with many fewer riti al simpli es.
Let K be a simpli ial omplex with a dis rete Morse fun tion. Let mp denote the
number of riti al simpli es of dimension p. Let F be any eld, and bp = dimHp (K; F )
the pth Betti number with respe t to F . Combining Theorems 2.5, 1.7 and 1.8, and
the fa t that homotopy equivalent spa es have isomorphi homology, we have the
following inequalities.
Theorem 2.11. I. The Weak Morse Inequalities.
(i)For ea h p = 0; 1; 2; : : : ; n (where n is the dimension of K )
mp  bp :
(ii) m0 m1 + m2

+(

1)n mn = b0 b1 + b2

+(

1)n bn [= (K ): II. The

Strong Morse Inequalities.

For ea h p = 0; 1; 2; : : : ; n; n + 1,
mp

mp 1 +


 m0  bp
3.

bp 1 +


 b0 :

Gradient Ve tor Fields

Any ambitious reader who has already started trying some examples will have
noti ed that the theory as presented in the previous se tion an be a bit unwieldy.
After all, how is one to go about assigning numbers to ea h of the simpli es of a
simpli ial omplex so that they satisfy the axioms of a dis rete Morse fun tion?

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

17

Fortunately, in pra ti e one need not a tually nd a dis rete Morse fun tion. Finding
the gradient ve tor eld of the Morse fun tion is su ient. This requires a bit of
explanation.
Let us now return to the example in Figure 2.2(ii). Non riti al simpli es o ur in
pairs. For example, the edge f 1 (1) is not riti al be ause it has a "lower dimensional
neighbor" whi h is assigned a higher value, i.e. the vertex f 1 (2). Similarly, the vertex
f 1 (2) is not riti al be ause it has a "higher dimensional neighbor" whi h is assigned
a lower value, i.e. the edge f 1 (1). We indi ate this pairing by drawing an arrow from
the vertex f 1 (2), pointing into the edge f 1 (1). Similarly, we draw an arrow from
the vertex f 1 (4) pointing into the edge f 1 (3). (See Figure 3.1.) One an think of
these arrows as pi torially indi ating the simpli ial ollapse that is referred to in the
proof of Lemma 2.6.

5
2

3
0

The gradient ve tor eld of the Morse fun tion shown in Figure 2.2 (ii).

Figure 3.1.
We an apply this pro ess to any simpli ial omplex with a dis rete Morse fun tion.
The arrows are drawn as follows. Suppose (p) is a non- riti al simplex with  (p+1) > 
satisfying f ( )  f (). We then draw an arrow from  to  . Figure 3.2 illustrates
a more ompli ated example. Note that the dis rete Morse fun tion drawn in this
gure has one riti al vertex, f 1 (0), and one riti al edge, f 1 (11). Theorem 2.5

18

ROBIN FORMAN

implies this simpli ial omplex is homotopy equivalent to a CW omplex with exa tly
one 0- ell and one 1- ell, i.e. a ir le.
It follows from Lemma 2.4 that that every simplex  satises exa tly one of the
following:
(i)  is the tail of exa tly one arrow.
(ii)  is the head of exa tly one arrow.
(iii)  is neither the head nor the tail of an arrow.
Note that a simplex is riti al if and only if it is neither the tail nor the head of any
arrow. These arrows an be viewed as the dis rete analogue of the gradient ve tor
eld of the Morse fun tion. (To be pre ise, when we say \gradient ve tor eld" we
are really referring to the negative of the gradient ve tor eld.)
6
7
10

14

16 17

5
12 13
3
11
4
(i)

15

1 2

(ii)

Another example of a gradient ve tor eld

Figure 3.2.
As we will see in examples later, these arrows are mu h easier to work with than
the original dis rete Morse fun tion. In fa t, this gradient ve tor eld ontains all of
the information that we will need to know about the fun tion for most appli ations.
The upshot is that if one is given a simpli ial omplex and one wishes to apply the
theory of the previous se tion, one need not onstru t nd a dis rete Morse fun tion.
One \only" needs to nd a gradient ve tor eld.
This leads us to the following question. Suppose we atta h arrows to the simpli es
so that ea h simplex saties exa tly one of properties (i),(ii),(iii) above. Then how do

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

19

we know if that set of arrows is the gradient ve tor eld of a dis ret Morse fun tion?
This is the question we will answer in the remainder of this se tion.
Let K be a simpli ial omplex with a dis rete Morse fun tion f . Then rather than
thinking about the dis rete gradient ve tor eld V of f as a olle tion of arrows,
we may equivalently des ribe V as a olle tion of pairs f(p) <  (p+1) g of simpli es
of K , where f(p) <  (p+1) g is in V if and only if f ( )  f (). In other words,
f(p) <  (p+1) g is in V if and only if we have drawn an arrow that has  as its
tail, and  as its head. The properties of a dis rete Morse fun tion imply that ea h
simplex is in at most one pair of V . This leads us to the following denition.

Denition 3.3. A dis rete ve tor eld V on K is a olle tion of pairs f(p) <  (p+1) g
of simpli es of K su h that ea h simplex is in at most one pair of V .
Su h pairings were studied in [41 and [8 as a tool for investigating the possible
f -ve tors for a simpli ial ompex. Here we take a dierent point of view. If one has a
smooth ve tor eld on a smooth manifold, it is quite natural to study the dynami al
system indu ed by owing along the ve tor eld. One an begin the same sort of study
for any dis rete ve tor eld. In [12 we present a study of the dynami s asso iated
to a dis rete ve tor eld. Here, we present just enough to ontinue our dis ussion of
dis rete Morse Theory.
Given a dis rete ve tor eld V on a simpli ial omplex K , a V path is a sequen e
of simpli es
(3.1)

0(p) ; 0(p+1) ; 1(p) ; 1(p+1) ; 2(p) ; : : : ; r(p+1) ; r(p+1)

su h that for ea h i = 0; : : : r, f <  g 2 V and i > i+1 6= i . We say su h a path

is a non-trivial losed path if r  0 and 0 = r+1 . If V is the gradient ve tor eld of
a dis rete Morse fun tion f , then we sometimes refer to a V -path as a gradient path
of f .
One idea behind this denition is the following result.

Theorem 3.4. Suppose V is the gradient ve tor eld of a dis rete Morse fun tion f .
Then a sequen e of simpli es as in (3.1) is a V -path if and only if i < i > i+1 for

20

ROBIN FORMAN

ea h i = 0; 1; : : : ; r, and

f (0 )  f (0 ) > f (1 )  f (1 ) >


 f (r ) > f (r+1 ):

That is, the gradient paths of f are pre isely those \ ontinuous" sequen es of simpli es
along whi h f is de reasing. In parti ular, this theorem implies that if V is a gradient
ve tor eld, then there are no nontrivial losed V -paths. In fa t, the main result of
this se tion is that the onverse is true.

Theorem 3.5. A dis rete ve tor eld V is the gradient ve tor eld of a dis rete
Morse fun tion if and only if there are no non-trivial losed V -paths.
We will not prove this theorem here. However, many readers may noti e the similarity with the following standard theorem from the subje t of dire ted graphs.

Theorem 3.6. Let G be a dire ted graph. Then there is a real-valued fun tion of the
verti es that is stri tly de reasing along ea h dire ted path if and only if there are no
dire ted loops.
We will show in se tion 6 that, in fa t, Theorem 3.6 implies Theorem 3.5. The
power of Theorem 3.5 is indi ated in the next two se tions in whi h we onstru t
some dis rete ve tor elds and use Theorem 3.5 to verify that they are gradient
ve tor elds.
4.

Our First Example: The Real Proje tive Plane

Figure 4.1 (i) shows a triangulation of the real proje tive plane P2 . Note that the
verti es along the boundary with the same labels are to be identied, as are the edges
whose endpoints have the same labels. In Figure 5(ii) we illustrate a dis rete ve tor
eld V on this simpli ial omplex. One an easily see that there are no losed V -paths
(sin e all V -paths go to the boundary of the gure and there are no losed V -paths
on the boundary), and hen e is a gradient ve tor eld. The only simpli es whi h are
neither the head nor the tail of an arrow are the vertex labelled 1, the edge e, and
the triangle t. Thus, by Theorem 2.5, the proje tive plane is homotopy equivalent

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

21

to a CW omplex with exa tly one 0- ell, one 1- ell and one 2- ell. (Of ourse, we
already knew this from our dis ussion of example 3 in se tion 2.)
3

e
2

1
t

3
(i)

(ii)

(i) A triangulation of the real proje tive plane. (ii) A dis rete gradient ve tor eld on P2 .

Figure 4.1.
This example gives rise to two potential on erns. The rst is that from the main
theorem we learn only a statement about "homotopy equivalen e". This is su ient
if one is only interested in al ulating homology or homotopy groups. However, one
might be interested in determining the (PL-)homeomorphism type of the omplex.
This is possible, in some ases, using deep results of J.H.C. Whitehead. We revisit
this topi in se tion 8.
The se ond potential point of on ern is that as we saw in se tion 2 there are an
innite number of dierent homotopy types of CW omplexes whi h an be built from
exa tly one 0- ell, one 1- ell and one 2- ell. One might wonder if Morse Theory an
give us any additional information as to how the ells are atta hed. In fa t, one an
dedu e mu h of this information if one has enough information about the gradient
paths of the Morse fun tion. This point is dis ussed further in se tion 7, where we
will return to this example of the triangulated proje tive plane.

22

ROBIN FORMAN

5.

Our Se ond Example: The Complex of Not Conne ted Graphs

A number of fas inating simpli ial omplexes arise from the study of monotone
graph properties. Let Kn denote the omplete graph on n verti es, and suppose we
have labelled the verti es 1,2,. . . ,n. Let Gn denote the spanning subgraphs of Kn , that
is, the subgraphs of Kn that ontain all n verti es. A subset P  Gn is alled a graph
property of graphs with n verti es if in lusion in P only depends on the isomorphism
type of the graph. That is, P is a graph property if for all pairs of graphs G1 ; G2 2 Gn ,
if G1 and G2 are isomorphi (ignoring the labellings on the verti es) then G1 2 P
if and only if G2 2 P . A graph property P of graphs with n verti es is said to be
monotone de reasing if for any graphs G1  G2 2 Gn , if G2 2 P then G1 2 P .
Monotone de reasing properties abound in the study of graph theory. Here are
some typi al examples: graphs having no more than k edges (for any xed k), graphs
su h that the degree of every vertex is less that (for any xed ), graphs whi h are
not onne ted, graphs whi h are not i- onne ted (for any xed i), graphs whi h do
not have a Hamiltonian y le, graphs whi h do not ontain a minor isomorphi to H
(for any xed graph H ), graphs whi h are r- olorable (for any xed r), and bipartite
graphs.
Any monotone de reasing graph property P gives rise to a simpli ial omplex K
where the d-simpli es of K are the graphs G 2 P whi h have d +1 edges. In parti ular,
if G is a d-simplex in K, then the fa es of G are all of the nontrivial spanning subgraphs
of G (the monotoni ity of P implies that ea h of these graphs is in K). Said in another
way, if P is nonempty, then the verti es of K are the edges of Kn , and a olle tion of
verti es in K span a simplex if the spanning subgraph of Kn onsisting of all edges
whi h orrespond to these verti es lies in P .
The simpli ial omplexes indu ed by many of the above-mentioned monotone de reasing graph properties have been studied using the te hniques of this paper. See
for example [6, [7,[21,[22,[27,[37. These papers ontain some beautiful mathemati s in whi h the authors onstru t, "by hand", expli it dis rete gradient ve tor

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

23

elds, along the way illuminating some of the intri ate ner stru tures of the graph
properties.
Some monotone graph properties have re ently been the fo us of intense interest
be ause of their relation to knot theory. Unfortunately this is probably not a good
time for an in depth dis ussion of this fas inating topi . We will mention only that
Vassiliev has shown how one an derive "nite type knot invariants" from the study
of the spa e of \singular knots" (i.e. maps from S 1 to R 3 whi h are not embeddings).
The homology of the simpli ial omplexes of not onne ted and not 2- onne ted
graphs show up in his spe tral sequen e al ulation of the homology of this spa e.
This is explained in [43, where Vassiliev derives the homotopy type of the omplex
of not onne ted graphs. In [42 and [1, the topology of the spa e of not 2- onne ted
graphs is determined, with dis rete Morse Theory playing a minor role in the latter
referen e. This topi is reexamined in [37, in whi h the entire investigation is framed
in the language of dis rete Morse Theory. Dis rete Morse Theory is used to determine
the topology of not 3- onne ted graphs in [21.
In this se tion, we will provide an introdu tion to this work by taking a look at the
simpler ase of the omplex of not onne ted graphs. We will show how the ideas of
this paper may be used to determine the topology of Nn , the simpli ial ompex of
not onne ted graphs on n verti es. Let me begin by pointing out that this omplex
an be well studied by more lassi al methods, and the answer has also been found by
Vassiliev in [43. The only novelty of this se tion is our use of dis rete Morse Theory.
Our goal is to onstru t a dis rete gradient ve tor eld V on Nn , the simpli ial
omplex of all not- onne ted graphs with the vertex set f1; 2; 3; : : : ; ng. The onstru tion will be in steps. Let V12 denote the dis rete ve tor eld onsisting of all
pairs fG; G + (1; 2)g, where G is any graph in Nn whi h does not ontain the edge
(1; 2) and su h that G + (1; 2) 2 Nn. Another way of des ribing V12 is that if G is
any graph in Nn whi h ontains the edge (1; 2), then G (1; 2) and G are paired in
V12 . A tually, there is one ex eption to this rule. Let G denote the graph onsisting
of only the single edge (1,2). Then G (1; 2) is the empty graph, whi h orresponds

24

ROBIN FORMAN

to the empty simplex in Nn, and may not be paired in a dis rete ve tor eld. Thus,
G is unpaired in V12 .
The graphs in Nn other than G whi h are unpaired in V12 are those that do
not ontain the edge (1; 2) and have the property that G + (1; 2) 62 Nn . That is,
those dis onne ted graphs G with the property that G + (1; 2) is onne ted. Su h a
graph must have exa tly two onne ted omponents, one of whi h ontains the vertex
labelled 1, and one whi h ontains the vertex labelled 2. We denote these onne ted
omponents by G1 and G2 , resp. See Figure 5.1.

a
connected
graph

G1

a
connected
graph

G2

The graphs other than G whi h are unpaired in the ve tor eld V12 .

Figure 5.1.
Let G be a graph other than G whi h is unpaired in V12 , and onsider vertex 3.
This vertex must either be in G1 or G2 . Suppose that vertex 3 is in G1 . If G does
not ontain the edge (1; 3) then G + (1; 3) is also unpaired in V12 , so we an pair G
with G + (1; 3). If vertex 3 is in G1 , then the graph G is still unpaired if and only if
G ontains the edge (1,3) and G (1; 3) is the union of three onne ted omponents,
one ontaining vertex 1, one ontaining vertex 2, and one ontaining vertex 3.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

25

Similarly, if vertex 3 is in G2 and G does not ontain the edge (2; 3), then pair G
with G + (2; 3). Let V3 denote the resulting dis rete ve tor eld.
The unpaired graphs in V3 are G and those that either ontain the edge (1,3) and
have the property that G (1; 3) is the union of three onne ted omponents, one
ontaining vertex 1, one ontaining vertex 2, and one ontaining vertex 3, or ontain
the edge (2,3) and have the property that G (2; 3) is the union of three onne ted
omponents, one ontaining vertex 1, one ontaining vertex 2, and one ontaining
vertex 3. We illustrate these graphs in Figure 5.2. The ir les in this gure indi ate
onne ted graphs.

The graphs other than G whi h are unpaired in the ve tor eld V3 .

Figure 5.2.
Now onsider the lo ation of the vertex labelled 4, and pair any graph G whi h is
unpaired in V3 with G + (1; 4),G + (2; 4), or G + (3; 4) if possible (at most one of these
graphs is unpaired in V3 ). Call the resulting dis rete ve tor eld V4 . We ontinue
in this fashion, onsidering in turn the verti es labelled 5; 6; : : : ; n. Let Vi denote
the dis rete ve tor eld that has been onstru ted after the onsideration of vertex
i, and V = Vn the nal dis rete ve tor eld. When we are done the only unpaired

26

ROBIN FORMAN

graphs in V will be G and those graphs that are the union of two onne ted trees,
one ontaining the vertex 1 and one ontaining the vertex 2. In addition, both trees
have the property that the vertex labels are in reasing along every ray starting from
the vertex 1 or the vertex 2. There are pre isely (n 1)! su h graphs, and they ea h
have n 2 edges, and hen e orrespond to an (n 3)-simplex in Nn .
It remains to see that the dis rete ve tor eld V is a gradient ve tor eld, i.e. that
there are no losed V -paths. We rst he k that V12 is a gradient ve tor eld. Let
= 0(p) ; 0(p+1) ; 1(p) denote a V12 -path. Then 0 must be the "tail of an arrow",
i.e. the smaller graph of some pair in V12 , with 0 being the head of the arrow, i.e.
0 = 0 + (1; 2). The simplex 1 is a odimension-one fa e of 0 other than 0 . Thus,
1 orresponds to a graph of the form 0 + (1; 2) e, where e is an edge of 0 other
than (1,2). Sin e 1 ontains the edge (1; 2) it is the "head of an arrow" in V12 , i.e.
the larger graph of some pair in V12 , whi h implies that annot be ontinued to a
longer V12 -path. This ertainly implies that there are no losed V12 -paths.
The same sort of argument will work for V . Re all that V is onstru ted in stages,
by rst onsidering the edge (1,2) and then the verti es 3,4,5,. . . in order. Let =
0 ; 0 ; 1 denote a V -path. In parti ular, 0 and 0 must be paired in V . The reader
an he k that if 0 and 0 are rst paired in Vi , i  3, then either 1 is the head
of an arrow in Vi , in whi h ase the V -path annot be ontinued, or 1 is paired in
Vi 1 . It follows by indu tion that there an be no losed V -paths.
In summary, V is a dis rete gradient ve tor eld on Nn with exa tly one unpaired
vertex, and (n 1)! unpaired (n 3)-simpli es. We an now apply Theorem 2.5 to
on lude

Theorem 5.3 ([43). The omplex Nn of not onne ted graphs on n-verti es is homotopy equivalent to the wedge of (n 1)! spheres of dimension (n 3).
6.

A Combinatorial Point of View

The notion of a gradient ve tor eld has a very ni e purely ombinatorial des ription
due to Chari [6, using whi h we an re ast the Morse Theory in an appealing form.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

27

We begin with the Hasse diagram of M , that is, the partially ordered set of simpli es
of M ordered by the fa e relation. Consider the Hasse diagram as a dire ted graph.
The verti es of the graph are in 1-1 orresponden e with the simpli es of M , and
there is a dire ted edge from  to  if and only if  is a odimension-one fa e of
 . (See Figure 6.1 (i).) Now let V be a ombinatorial ve tor eld. We modify the
dire ted graph as follows. If f <  g 2 V then reverse the orientation of the edge
between  and  , so that it now goes from  to  . (See Figure 6.1(ii).) A V -path
an be thought of as a dire ted path in this modied graph. There are some dire ted
paths in this modied Hasse diagram whi h are not V -paths as we have dened them.
However, the following result is not hard to he k.
t

v1
e3
v3

e1

e2

e1

e2

e3

v1

v2

v3

(i)

v1
e3
v3

t
e2

t
e1
v2

e1

e2

e3

v1

v2

v3

(ii)

From a dis rete ve tor eld to a dire ted Hasse diagram.

Figure 6.1.
Theorem 6.2. There are no nontrivial losed V -paths if and only if there are no
nontrivial losed dire ted paths in the orresponding dire ted Hasse diagram.

28

ROBIN FORMAN

Thus, in this ombinatorial language, a dis rete ve tor eld is a partial mat hing of
the Hasse diagram, and a dis rete ve tor eld is a gradient ve tor eld if the partial
mat hing is a y li in the above sense. Note that using Theorem 6.2, we an see that
Theorem 3.5 does follow from Theorem 3.6.
We an now restate some of our earlier theorems in this language. There is a very
minor ompli ation in that one usually in ludes the empty set as an element of the
Hasse diagram ( onsidered as a simplex of dimension -1) while we have not onsidered
the empty set previously.

Theorem 6.3. Let V be an a y li partial mat hing of the Hasse diagram of K (of the
sort des ribed above - assume that the empty set is not paired with another simplex).
Let up denote the number of unpaired p-simpli es. Then M is homotopy equivalent to
a CW- omplex with exa tly up ells of dimension p, for ea h p  0.
An important spe ial ase is when V is a omplete mat hing, that is, every simplex
(this time in luding the empty simplex) is paired with another simplex. In this ase,
Lemma 2.9 implies the following result.

Theorem 6.4. Let V be a omplete a y li mat hing of the Hasse diagram of K ,

then K ollapses onto a vertex, so that, in parti ular, K is ontra tible.
This result was used in a very interesting fashion in [1.
7.

The Morse Complex

In this se tion we will see how knowledge of the gradient paths of a dis rete Morse
fun tion on a spa e K an allow one to strengthen the on lusions of the main theorems. In parti ular, rather than just knowing the number of ells in a CW deomposition for K , one an al ulate the homology exa tly.
Let K be a simpli ial omplex with a Morse fun tion f . Let Cp(X; Z) denote the
spa e of p-simpli ial hains, and Mp  Cp (X; Z) the span of the riti al p-simpli es.
We refer to M as the spa e of Morse hains. If we let mp denote the number of

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

29

riti al p-simpli es, then we obviously have

Mp = Zmp :
Sin e homotopy equivalent spa es have isomorphi homology, the following theorem
follows from Theorems 2.5 and 1.6.
Theorem 7.1. There are boundary maps ~d : Mp ! Md 1 , for ea h d, so that

~d

~d = 0

and su h that the resulting dierential omplex

n
Mn
! Mn ~!

~n

!


~! M0 ! 0
1

al ulates the homology of X . That is, if we dene

Ker(~d )
Hd (M; ~) =
Im(~d+1 )
then for ea h d
Hd (M; ~) 
= Hd (X; Z):

In fa t, this statement is equivalent to the Strong Morse inequalities. The main

goal of this se tion is to present an expli it formula for the boundary operator ~. This
requires a loser look at of the notion of a gradient path. Let  and ~ be p-simpli es.
Re all from se tion 7 that a gradient path from ~ to  is a sequen e of simpli es

~ = 0(p) ; 0(p+1) ; 1(p) ; 1(p+1) ; 2(p) ; : : : ; r(p+1) ; r(p+1) = 

su h that i < i > i+1 for ea h i = 0; 1; 2; : : : ; r and f (0 )  f (0 ) > f (1 ) 
f (1 ) >


 f (r ) > f (r+1 ). Equivalently, if V is the gradient ve tor eld of f , we
require that for ea h i, i and i be paired in V and i > i+1 6= i . In Figure 7.2 we
show a single gradient path from the boundary of a riti al 2-simplex  to a riti al
edge , where the arrows indi ate the gradient ve tor eld V .
Given a gradient path as shown in Figure 7.2, an orientation on  indu es an
orientation on . We will not state the pre ise denition here. The idea is that
one \slides" the orientation from  along the gradient path to . For example, for

30

ROBIN FORMAN

the gradient path shown in Figure 7.2, the indi ated orientation on  indu es the
indi ated orientation on .

A gradient path from the boundary of  to .

Figure 7.2.
We are now ready to state the desired formula.

Theorem 7.3. Choose an orientation for ea h simplex. Then for any riti al (p +1)simplex  set
(7.1)

 =

riti al

where

; =

; 
(p)

2 (;)

m( )

where (; ) is the set of gradient paths whi h go from a maximal fa e of  to .

The multipli ity m( ) of any gradient path is equal to 1, depending on whether,
given , the orientation on  indu es the hosen orientation on , or the opposite
orientation. With this dierential, the omplex (7.1) omputes the homology of K .

A proof this theorem appears in se tion 8 of [10. We refer to this omplex (7.1)
with the dierential (7.1) as the Morse omplex (it goes by many dierent names in
the litereature). An extensive study of the Morse omplex in the smooth ategory
appears in [36
We end this se tion with a demonstration of how the ideas of this se tion may
be applied to the example of the real proje tive plane P2 as illustrated in Figure
4.1(ii). We saw in se tion 2 how dis rete Morse Theory an help us see that P2
has a CW de omposition with exa tly one 0- ell, one 1- ell and one 2- ell. Here we

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

31

will see how Morse Theory an distinguish between the spa es whi h have su h a
CW de omposition. In Figure 7.4 we redraw the gradient ve tor eld, and indi ate a
hosen orientation on the ritial edge e and the riti al triangle t. Let us now al ulate
the boundary map in the Morse omplex. To al ulate ~(e), we must ount all of
the gradient paths from the boundary of e to v . There are pre isely two su h paths.
Namely, following the unique gradient path beginning at ea h endpoint of e leads us
to v . (The gradient path beginning at the head of e is the trivial path of 0 steps.)
Sin e the orientation of e indu es a + orientation on the head of e, and a - orientation
on the tail of e, adding these two paths with their orresponding signs leads us to the
formula that ~(e) = 0. It an be seen from the illustration that there are pre isely two
gradient paths from the boundary of t to e, and, with the illustrated orientation for t,
both indu e the hosen orientation on e, so that ~(t) = 2e. Therefore the homology
of the real proje tive plane an be al ulated from the following dierential omplex.
2

0
!Z !
Z ! 0:

Thus we see that

H0 (P2 ; Z) 
= 0:
= Z=2Z; H2 (P2 ; Z) 
= Z; H1 (P2 ; Z) 
3
e
2

1
t

A gradient ve tor eld on the real proje tive plane.

Figure 7.4.

32

ROBIN FORMAN

8.

Sphere Theorems

As mentioned in our dis ussion at the end of se tion 4, one an sometimes use
dis rete Morse Theory to make statements about more than just the homotopy type
of the simpli ial omplex. One an sometimes lassify the omplex up to homeomorphism or ombinatorial equivalen e. This will be a very short se tion, as this topi
seems a bit far from the main thrust of this paper. In addition, some terms will
unfortunately have to be dened only ursorily or not at all. So far, we have not
pla ed any restri tions on the simpli ial omplexes under onsideration. The main
idea of this se tion is that is if our simpli ial omplex has some additional stru ture,
then one may be able to strengthen the on lusion. This idea rests on some very deep
work of J.H.C. Whitehead [44.
Re all that a simpli ial omplex K is a ombinatorial d-ball if K and the standard
d-simplex d have isomorphi subdivisions. A simpli ial omplex K is a ombinatorial (d 1)-sphere, if K and _d have isomorphi subdivisions (where _d denotes the
boundary of d with its indu ed simpli ial stru ture). A simpli ial omplex K is a
ombinatorial d-manifold with boundary if the link of every vertex is either a ombinatorial (d 1)-sphere or a ombinatorial (d 1)-ball. The following is a spe ial ase
of the main theorem of [44.

Theorem 8.1. Let K be a ombinatorial d-manifold with boundary whi h simpli iallly
ollapses to a vertex. Then K is a ombinatorial d-ball.
It is with this theorem (and its generalizations) that one an strengthen the on lusion of Theorem 2.5 beyond homotopy equivalen e. We present just one example.

Theorem 8.2. Let X be a ombinatorial d-manifold with a dis rete Morse fun tion
with exa tly two riti al simpli es. Then X is a ombinatoral d-sphere.
The proof is quite simple (given Theorem 8.1). If X is a ombinatorial d-manifold
with a dis rete Morse fun tion f with exa tly two riti al simpli es, then the riti al simpli es must be the minimum of f , whi h must o ur at a vertex v , and the
maximum of f , whi h must o ur at a d-simplex . Then X  is a ombinatorial

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

33

d-manifold with boundary with a dis rete Morse fun tion with only a single riti al
simplex, namely the vertex v . It follows from Lemma 2.6 that X  ollapses to v .
Whitehead's theorem now implies that X  is a ombinatorial d-ball, whi h implies
that X is a ombinatorial d-sphere.
9.

Can eling Criti al Points

One of the main problems in Morse Theory, whether in the ombinatorial or smooth
setting, is to nd a Morse fun tion for a given spa e with the fewest possible riti al
points (mu h of the book [38 is devoted to this topi ). In general this is a very
di ult problem, sin e, in parti ular, it ontains the Poin are onje ture { spheres
an be re ognized as those spa es whi h have a Morse fun tion with pre isely 2 riti al
points. In [31, Milnor presents Smale's proof [40 of the higher dimensional Poin are
onje ture (in fa t, a proof is presented of the more general h- obordism theorem)
ompletely in the language of Morse Theory. Drasti ally oversimplifying matters,
the proof of the higher Poin are onje ture an be des ribed as follows. Let M be a
smooth manifold of dimension  5 whi h is homotopy equivalent to a sphere. Endow
M with a (smooth) Morse fun tion f . One then pro eeds to show that the riti al
points of f an be an elled out in pairs until one is left with a Morse fun tion with
exa tly two riti al points, whi h implies that M is a (topologi al) sphere.
A key step in this proof is the " an ellation theorem" whi h provides a su ient
ondition for two riti al points to be an elled (see Theorem 5.4 in [31, whi h Milnor
alls "The First Can ellation Theorem", or the original proof in [33). In this se tion
we will see that the analogous theorem holds for dis rete Morse fun tions. Moreover,
in the ombinatorial setting the proof is mu h simpler. The main result is that if (p)
and  (p+1) are 2 riti al simpli es, and if there is exa tly 1 gradient path from the
boundary of  to , then  and  an be an elled. More pre isely,

Theorem 9.1. Suppose f is a dis rete Morse fun tion on M su h that  (p+1) and
(p) are riti al, and there is exa tly one gradient path from the boundary  to .
Then there is another Morse fun tion g on M with the same riti al simpli es ex ept

34

ROBIN FORMAN

that  and  are no longer riti al. Moreover, the gradient ve tor eld asso iated to
g is equal to the gradient ve tor eld asso iated to f ex ept along the unique gradient
path from the boundary  to .

In the smooth ase, the proof, either as presented originally by Morse in [33 or as
presented in [31, is rather te hni al. In our dis rete ase the proof is simple. If, in
the top drawing in Figure 9.2, the indi ated gradient path is the only gradient path
from the boundary of  to , then we an reverse the gradient ve tor eld along this
path, repla ing the gure by the ve tor eld shown in the botton drawing in Figure
9.2.

Can elling riti al points.

Figure 9.2.
The uniqueness of the gradient path implies that the resulting dis rete ve tor eld
has no losed orbits, and hen e, by Theorem 3.5, is the gradient ve tor eld of some
Morse fun tion. Moreover,  and  are not riti al for this new Morse fun tion, while
the riti ality of all other simpli es is un hanged. This ompletes the proof.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

35

The proof in the smooth ase pro eeds along the same lines. However, in addition
to turning around those ve tors along the unique gradient path from  to , one must
also adjust all nearby ve tors so that the resulting ve tor eld is smooth. Moreover,
one must he k that the new ve tor eld is the gradient of a fun tion, so that, in
parti ular, modifying the ve tors did not result in the reation of a losed orbit. This
is an example of the sort of ompli ations whi h arise in the smooth setting, but
whi h do not make an appearan e in the dis rete theory.
This theorem was re ently put to very good use in [2, in whi h dis rete Morse
Theory is used to determine the homotopy type of some simpli ial omplexes arising
in the study of partitions. It is fas inating, and quite pleasing, to see the same idea
play a entral role in two subje ts, the Poin are onje ture and the study of partitions,
whi h seem to have so little to do with one another.
10.

Morse Theory and Evasiveness

So far, we have indi ated some appli ations of dis rete Morse Theory to ombinatori s and topology. We now present an appli ation to omputer s ien e. The reader
should see the referen e [14 for a more omplete treatement of the ontent of this
se tion.
The problem we study is a topologi al version of a standard type of \sear h problem". The generalized version that we will present rst appeared in [35. Let S be an
n-dimensional simplex, with verti es v0 ; v1 ; : : : ; vn , and K a sub omplex of S whi h
is known to you. Let  be a fa e of S whi h is not known to you. Your goal is to
determine if  is in K . In parti ular, you need not determine the fa e  , just whether
or not it is in K . You are permitted to ask questions of the form \Is vi in  ?". You
may use the answers to the questions you have already asked in determining whi h
vertex to ask about next. Of ourse, you an determine if  is in K by asking n + 1
questions, sin e by asking about all n + 1 verti es you an ompletely determine  .
You win this game if you answer the given question after asking fewer that n + 1
questions.

36

ROBIN FORMAN

Say that K is nonevasive if there is a winning strategy for this game, i.e there
is a question algorithm that determines whether or not  2 K in fewer than n + 1
questions, no matter what  is. Say K is evasive otherwise.
Kahn, Saks and Sturtevant proved the following relationship between the evasiveness of K and its algebrai topology.
Theorem 10.1. If H~  (K ) 6= 0, where H~  (K ) denotes the redu ed homology of K ,
then K is evasive.

In fa t, they proved something stronger, and we will ome ba k to this point later.
We illustrate the previous theorem with a simple example. Let S be the 2-simplex
shown in Figure 10.2, spanned by the verti es v0 ; v1 and v2 , with K the sub omplex
onsisting of the edge [v0 ; v1 together with the vertex v2 .

v2

v0

v1

An example of an evasive sub omplex of the 2-dimensional simplex.

Figure 10.2.
A possible guessing algorithm is shown in Figure 10.3. Dene an evader of a
guessing algorithm to be a fa e  of S with the property that when questions are asked
in the order determined by the algorithm one must ask all three questions before it is
known whether or not  is in K . In parti ular, the evaders of the illustrated guessing
algorithm are:

 = [v2 ; [v0 ; v2

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

37

Note that the sub omplex K has nonzero redu ed homology, so the theorem of Kahn,
Saks and Sturtevant guarantees that every guessing algorithm has some evaders.

v2
no

yes

v0
no

v1
no

[]

yes no

v1
yes

no

v1

v0
yes

yes

v0

no

yes

no

yes

[v ] [v0 ] [v0 ,v ] [v2 ] [v ,v ] [v ,v ] [v ,v ,v ]

1

A guessing algorithm

Figure 10.3.
Morse Theory omes to the fore when one observes that a guessing algorithm
indu es a dis rete ve tor eld on S . For example, the guessing algorithm shown in
Figure 10.3 indu es the ve tor eld

V=

f; < [v1gf[v0 < [v0 ; v1g

f[v2 < [v0 ; v2gf[v1; v2 < [v0 ; v1; v2g

That is, V onsists of those pairs of fa es of S whi h are not distinguished by the
guessing algorithm until the last question. There is slight subtlety here in that a
guessing algoithm pairs a vertex with the empty simplex ;, while in our original
denition, it was not permitted to pair a simplex with ;. Thus, to get a true dis rete
ve tor eld, we must remove this pair from V . (It is pre isely this subtle point
that results in the redu ed homology of K being the relevant measure of topologi al
omplexity, rather than the nonredu ed homology.) However, for simpli ity, from now
on we will simply ignore this te hni al point.

38

ROBIN FORMAN

v2

v0

v1

The ve tor eld indu ed by the guessing algorithm shown in Figure 10.3.

Figure 10.4.
Theorem 10.5. This indu ed ve tor eld is always a gradient ve tor eld.
We will postpone the proof of this result until the end of this se tion.
Now restri t V to K (by taking only those pairs in V s.t. both simpli es are in K ).
For example, in our example, this results in the ve tor eld

VK = ff[v0 < [v0 ; v1 gg:

From the previous theorem, V has no losed orbits. Any dis rete ve tor eld onsisting
of a subset of the pairs of V has fewer paths, and hen e also has no lose orbits.
Therefore, VK is a gradient ve tor eld on K . Note that V pairs every fa e of S with
another fa e, and hen e there are no riti al simpli es (we are ontinuing to ignore for
now the simplex whi h is paied with the emptyset). Thus, the riti al simpli es of VK
are pre isely the simpli es of K whi h are paired in V with a fa e of S whi h is not
in K . These are pre isely the simpli es of K whi h are the evaders of the guessing
algorithm.
The Morse inequalities of Theorem 2.11 (i) imply that the number of evaders in K
is at least dim H (K ). Evaders o ur in pairs, with ea h pair having one fa e of K
and one fa e not in K . This yields the following quantitative renement of Theorem
10.1.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

Theorem 10.6. For any guessing algorithm

# of evaders

39

 2 dim H(K )

Suppose that K is nonevasive. Then there is some guessing algorithm whi h has no
evaders. From our above dis ussion we seen that this implies that K has a gradient
ve tor eld with no riti al simpli es. A tually, this is not quite true. The gradient
ve tor eld must have a riti al vertex - the vertex that is paired with the empty set
- this is that minor te hni ality that we have been ignoring. Applying Lemma 2.6
yields the following strengthening of Theorem 10.1.

Theorem 10.7. If K is nonevasive, then K simpli ially ollapses to a point.

This theorem appears in [23. The interested reader an onsult [14 for some additional renements of this theorem.
We end this se tion with a proof of Theorem 10.5. Fix a sub omplex K of an nsimplex S , and a guessing algorithm. Asso iate to ea h p-simplex  of S the sequen e
of integers

n() = n0 () < n1 () <


< np ()

where the ni ()'s are the numbers of the questions answered \yes" if  = .
If V is the ve tor eld indu ed by the guessing algorithm and

0(p) ; 0(p+1) ; 1(p)

is a V -path, then f0 ; 0 g is in V , whi h means that 0 and 0 are not distinguished
until the (n + 1)st question. Thus,

n(0 ) = n0 (0 ) < n1 (0 ) <


< np(0 ) < n + 1:

We now observe that the verti es of a1 are a subset of the verti es of b0 . Suppose the
vertex of 0 whi h is not in 1 is the vertex tested in question ni (0 ). Then we must
have i 6= n + 1 (sin e 0 6= 1 ). This demonstrates that

n(1 ) = n0 (0 ) < n1 (0 ) <


< ni 1 (0 ) < ni (1 ) < : : :

40

ROBIN FORMAN

for some i < n + 1, and su h that ni (1 ) > ni (0 ). Thus n(1 ) > n(0 ) in the

lexi ographi order, whi h is su ient to prove that there are no losed orbits.
QED
11.

Further Thoughts

We lose this paper with some additional thoughts on the subje ts dis ussed in this
paper.
I would like to begin by en ouraging the reader to take a look at the papers [24,[25,
and [3. In these papers, dis rete Morse Theory is used to investigate quite interesting
problems. These referen es were not mentioned earlier only be ause they did not
easily t into any of the previous se tions of this paper.
There are a number of dire tions in whi h dis rete Morse Theory an be extended
and generalized. Here we mention a few su h possibilities. In [16 we show how one
an re over the ring stru ture of the ohomology of a simpli ial omplex from the
point of view of dis rete Morse Theory (this follows work of Betz and Cohen [4 and
Fukaya [17[18 in the smooth setting). In [34, Novikov presents a generalization
of standard smooth Morse Theory in whi h the role of the Morse fun tion is now
played by a losed 1-form (the lassi al ase arises when the losed 1-form is exa t).
In [15 we present the analogous generalization for dis rete Morse Theory. In [45,
Witten shows how smooth Morse Theory an be seen as arising from onsiderations
of supersymmetry in quantum physi s. In [11 we present a ombinatorial version of
Witten's derivation. We believe that this latter work may have greater signi an e.
At ru ial points in [45, Witten appeals to path integral arguments whi h are rather
standard in quantum physi s, but are ill-dened mathemati ally. In the orresponding
moments in [11 what arises is a well-dened dis rete sum. Perhaps the approa h in
[11 an nd uses in the analysis of other quantum eld theories.
One topi whi h we have only tou hed upon is the study of the dynami s asso iated
to owing along the gradient ve tor eld asso iated to a dis rete Morse fun tion. In
fa t, an understanding of the dynami s is ru ial to the proof of theorem 7.3, for

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

41

example. The relevant study takes pla e in se tion 6 of [10. In [12 we study the
dynami al properties of the ow asso iated to a general dis rete ve tor eld.
One area in whi h mu h work remains to be done is the investigation of dis rete
Morse Theory for innite simpli ial omplexes. The theory as desribed in this paper
an be applied without hange to an innite simpli ial omplex K endowed with a
dis rete Morse fun tion f whi h is proper, i.e. one in whi h for ea h real number
the level sub omplex K ( ) is a nite omplex. Unfortunately, properness is often an
unnatural requirement when onsidering the innite simpli ial omplexes whi h arise
in pra ti e. In the interesting paper [29, dis rete Morse Theory is applied to the
investigation of innite simpli ial omplexes K whi h arise as a overing spa e of a
nite simpli ial omplex K 0 . In this ase, the authors restri t attention to dis rete
Morse fun tions whi h are lifts of a Morse fun tion on K 0 , and ompare the number
of riti al simpli es to the L2 -Betti numbers of K . While it appears to be too mu h
to hope that one an develop a useful theory that applies to all innite simpli ial
omplexes with no restri tions on the dis rete Morse fun tion, it seems likely that
there is room for very useful investigations of large lasses of omplexes and fun tions
with restri tions dierent than those already onsidered.
I will lose these notes with some omments of a less rigorous nature. Whether
in the smooth ategory or the ombinatorial ategory, Morse Theory is not essential
to any problem, it is usually "only" a onvenient and e ient language. Anything
that an be done with Morse Theory an be done without it. It seems to me that
Morse Theory takes on a spe ial signi an e in three dierent ases. First are the
ases in whi h Morse Theory is not intrinsi to the problem, but where the existen e
of su h an e ient language may make the dieren e between whether or not one
is able to see the way to the end of a problem. The best example of this in the
smooth setting, I think, is the proof of the higher dimensional Poin are onje ture
([39,[31). Most of the appli ations of dis rete Morse Theory mentioned in se tion
5, for example, seem to fall into this ategory. Se ond are the ases in whi h the
spa e one is studying omes naturally endowed with a Morse fun tion, or a gradient

42

ROBIN FORMAN

ve tor eld. Here the prime example is Bott's proof of Bott periodi ity ([5, see also
Part IV of [30), resting on the fa t that the loop spa e of a Riemannian manifold
is endowed with a natural Morse fun tion. In the ombinatorial setting, I would
pla e the Morse-theoreti examination of evasiveness of the previous se tion in this
ategory. Third are the ases in whi h the obje ts under investigation an be naturally
identied as the riti al points of a Morse fun tion on a larger spa e. Examples of
this phenomenon abound in dierential geometry, where one often studies extremals
of energy fun tionals. In parti ular, Morse's rst great triumph with Morse Theory
was his investigation of the set of geodesi s between two points in a Riemannian
manifold ([32, see also Part III pf [30). The geodesi s are pre isely the riti al
points of the natural Morse fun tion on the path spa e, and Morse used the Morse
inequalities, along with a knowledge of the topology of the path spa e, to dedu e
the existen e of many riti al points. It is intriguing to this author that there are as
yet no orresponding examples in the ombinatorial setting. I know of no examples
in whi h a olle tion of lassi ally studied obje ts in ombinatori s an be naturally
identied with the riti al simpli es of a Morse fun tion on some larger omplex.
Indeed, I believe that soon ombinatorial examples of interest will be found that t
into this third ategory. I wonder if appli ations of dis rete Morse theory will be found
that approa h the beauty, depth and fundamental signi an e of the appli ations of
smooth Morse Theory mentioned in this paragraph.
On a broader note, I believe that dis rete Morse Theory is only a small part of what
someday will be a more omplete theory of \ ombinatorial dierential topology",
although I hesitate to predi t (at least in print) what form su h a theory will take.

A USER'S GUIDE TO DISCRETE MORSE THEORY

43

Referen es

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i-Conne ted Graphs, Topology, 38 (1999), pp. 271-299.
[2 E. Babson, P. Hersh, Dis rete Morse fun tions from lexi ographi orders, preprint.
[3 E. Batzies and V. Welker Dis rete Morse Theory for Cellular Resolutions, to appear in
J. Reine Angw. Math.
[4 M. Betz and R. Cohen, Graph moduli spa e and ohomology operations, Turk. J. of Math.,
18 (1994), pp. 23-41.
[5 R. Bott, Stable homotopy of the lassi al groups, Ann. of Math., 70 (1959), pp. 313-337.
[6 M. Chari, On Dis rete Morse Fun tions and Combinatorial De ompositions, Dis rete
Math, 217, 2000, pp. 101-113.
[7 X Dong, The Topology of Bounded Degree Graph Complexes and Finite Free Resolutions,
thesis, Univ. of Minn., 2001.
[8 A. Duval A Combinatorial De omposition of Simpli ial Complexes, Israel J. of Math., 87
( 1994) pp. 77-87.
[9 R. Forman, A Dis rete Morse Theory for Cell Complexes, in Geometry, Topology &
Physi s for Raoul Bott, S.T. Yau (ed.), International Press, 1995.
[10
, Morse Theory for Cell Complexes, Adv. in Math., 134 (1998), pp. 90-145.
[11
, Witten-Morse Theory for Cell Complexes, Topology, 37 (1998), pp. 945-979.
[12
, Combinatorial Ve tor Fields and Dynami al Systems, Math. Zeit., 228 (1998),
pp. 629-681.
, Combinatorial dierential topology and geometry, in New Perspe tives in alge[13
brai Combinatori s (Berkeley, CA. 1996-97), Math. S i. Res. Inst. Publ. 38, Cambridge
Univ. Press, Cambridge, 91999), pp. 177-206.
, Morse Theory and Evasiveness, Combinatori a, 20 (2000), pp.498-504.
[14
, Novikov-Morse theory for ell omplexes, to appear in Int. J. of Math.
[15
[16
The Cohomology Ring and Dis rete Morse Theory, preprint 2001.
[17 K. Fukaya, Morse homotopy, A1 - ategory, anf Floer homologies, in Pro . Gar . Workshop
on Geometry and Topology '93, (Seoul, 1993), Le ture Note ed. H. J. Kim, Le ture Note
Ser. 18, Seoul National University.pp 1-102.
, Morse homotopy and its quantization, in Geometri Topology (Athens, GA
[18
1993),AMS/IP Stud. Adv. Math 21, Amer. Math. So ., Prov. RI, 1997, pp. 409-440.
[19 M. Goresky and R. Ma Pherson Stratied Morse Theory, in Singularities, Part I (Ar ata,
CA, 1981), Pro . Sympos. Pure Math., 40, Amer. Math. So ., R.I., (1983) pp. 517-533.
[20
Stratied Morse Theory, Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebeite (3),
14, Springer Verlag, Berlin-New York, 1988.
[21 J. Jonsson, On the homology of some omplexes of graphs, preprint, 1998.
, The de ision tree method, preprint, 1999.
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Department of Mathemati s, Ri e University, Houston, TX 77251