Spatial Systems and Topological Data Analysis

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  Spatial Systems and Topological Data Analysis
  Mason Porter
  From the venation patterns of leaves to spider webs, roads in cities, and social networks, the structure of many systems are influenced significantly by space. Accordingly, the analysis of the effects of space on structure and function is an active area in the study of networks and other complex systems. In this talk, I'll give an introduction to spatial networks, topological data analysis (TDA), and the application of TDA to spatial complex systems. As an illustrative example, I will present a case study using (rich, publicly-available) apocalyptic voting data from California in 2016. I will also briefly discuss other examples.