Topology-based Simplification for Feature Extraction from 3D Scalar Fields

This paper describes a topological approach for simplifying continuous functions defined on volumetric domains. The Morse-Smale complex provides a segmentation of the domain into monotonic regions having uniform gradient flow behavior. We present a combinatorial algorithm that simplifies the Morse-Smale complex by repeated application of two atomic operations that removes pairs of critical points. The simplification procedure leaves important critical points untouched, and is therefore useful for extracting features. We present a visualization of the simplified topology. CR Categories: I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling; I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]: Methodology and Techniques;