Simplicial Complexes of Graphs (Lecture Notes in Mathematics)

A graph complex is a finite family of graphs closed under deletion of edges. Graph complexes show up naturally in many different areas of mathematics. Identifying each graph with its edge set, one may view a graph complex as a simplicial complex and hence interpret it as a geometric object. This volume examines topological properties of graph complexes, focusing on homotopy type and homology. Many of the proofs are based on Robin Forman's discrete version of Morse theory.