An Algorithm for Fast and Correct Computation of Reeb Spaces for PL Bivariate Fields

The Reeb space is a fundamental data structure in computational topology that represents the fiber topology of a multi-field (or multiple scalar fields), extending the level set topology of a scalar field. Efficient algorithms have been designed for computing Reeb graphs, however, computing correct Reeb spaces for PL bivariate fields, is a challenging open problem. There are only a few implementable algorithms in the literature for computing Reeb space or its approximation, via range quantization or by computing a Jacobi fiber surface, which are computationally expensive or have correctness issues, i.e., the computed Reeb space may not be topologically equivalent or homeomorphic to the actual Reeb space. In the current paper, we propose a novel algorithm for fast and correct computation of the Reeb space corresponding to a generic PL bivariate field defined on a triangulation $\mathbb{M}$ of a $3$-manifold without boundary, leveraging the fast algorithms for computing Reeb graphs in the literature. Our algorithm is based on the computation of a Multi-Dimensional Reeb Graph (MDRG) which is first proved to be homeomorphic with the Reeb space. For the correct computation of the MDRG, we compute the Jacobi set of the PL bivariate field and its projection into the Reeb space, called the Jacobi structure. Finally, the correct Reeb space is obtained by computing a net-like structure embedded in the Reeb space and then computing its $2$-sheets in the net-like structure. The time complexity of our algorithm is $\mathcal{O}(n^2 + n\, c_{int}\, \log n + nc_L^2)$, where $n$ is the total number of simplices in $\mathbb{M}$, $c_{int}$ is the number of intersection points of the projections of the non-adjacent Jacobi set edges on the range of the bivariate field and $c_L$ is the upper bound on the number of simplices in the link of an edge of $\mathbb{M}$.