A Persistent Homology Signature of Knotting

Abstract

We ask whether knotting can be recognised using persistent homology. Starting from a point-cloud representation of a curve, we compute one-dimensional persistent homology, extract cycle representatives, and assign a hypergraph curvature-based score to these cycles. Motivated by proteins but tested more broadly, the method reveals systematic differences between knotted and unknotted structures in both protein families and synthetic examples. This suggests that knotting leaves a detectable persistent-homology-based signature.