A discrete homotopy theory for binary reflexive structures

Abstract

We present a simple combinatorial construction of a sequence of functors σ k from the category of pointed binary reflexive structures to the category of groups. We prove that if the relational structure is a poset P then the groups are (naturally) isomorphic to the homotopy groups of P when viewed as a topological space with the topology of ideals, or equivalently, to the homotopy groups of the simplicial complex associated to P. We deduce that the group σ k ( X, x 0) of the pointed structure ( X, x 0) is (naturally) isomorphic to the kth homotopy group of the simplicial complex of simplices of X, i.e. those subsets of X which are the homomorphic image of a finite totally ordered set.