Functional Data Representation with Merge Trees

In this paper we face the problem of representation of functional data with the tools of algebraic topology. We represent functions by means of merge trees and this representation is compared with that offered by persistence diagrams. We show that these two tree structures, although not equivalent, are both invariant under homeomorphic re-parametrizations of the functions they represent, thus allowing for a statistical analysis which is indifferent to functional misalignment. We employ a novel metric for merge trees and we prove a few theoretical results related to its specific implementation when merge trees represent functions. To showcase the good properties of our topological approach to functional data analysis, we first go through a few examples using data generated {\em in silico} and employed to illustrate and compare the different representations provided by merge trees and persistence diagrams, and then we test it on the Aneurisk65 dataset replicating, from our different perspective, the supervised classification analysis which contributed to make this dataset a benchmark for methods dealing with misaligned functional data.