@article{1805, abstract = {We consider the problem of deciding whether the persistent homology group of a simplicial pair (K,L) can be realized as the homology H∗(X) of some complex X with L ⊂ X ⊂ K. We show that this problem is NP-complete even if K is embedded in double-struck R3. As a consequence, we show that it is NP-hard to simplify level and sublevel sets of scalar functions on double-struck S3 within a given tolerance constraint. This problem has relevance to the visualization of medical images by isosurfaces. We also show an implication to the theory of well groups of scalar functions: not every well group can be realized by some level set, and deciding whether a well group can be realized is NP-hard.}, author = {Attali, Dominique and Bauer, Ulrich and Devillers, Olivier and Glisse, Marc and Lieutier, André}, journal = {Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications}, number = {8}, pages = {606 -- 621}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Homological reconstruction and simplification in R3}}, doi = {10.1016/j.comgeo.2014.08.010}, volume = {48}, year = {2015}, }