Topology Software

The software below is still under development, and is of at most beta quality. If you would like to help us work on it, please send us mail.

All the software is developed on and for Unix-style systems (e.g. Linux/Solaris/*BSD/MacOS X), and compiles using Python's built-in build system. It also works fine on Windows using the Unix toolkit Cygwin. We have not tested it on Windows (sans Cygwin) or MacOS 9, and the programs may need slight modifications before they will work on those platforms.

The download links are current snapshots of the software.

The development of this software was partially supported by the  National Science Foundation  under grants No. 0204142, No. 007160, and No. 045491.

Downloads

• Our extended version of Jeff Week's SnapPeaPython is available as a tarball,  or as individual files. Requires Python-2.2.
Last update: Friday, 25-Jan-2008 16:12:06 CST


• PLink is a graphical editor for piecewise linear link projections. Requires Python with Tkinter. PLink can be imported into python programs. If PLink is installed on your system, SnapPeaPython will find and use it. Type
  >>> M = get_link_complement()
  to open PLink. When you close the window, M will be a triangulation of the complement of the link you drew. PLink is available as a tarball,  or as individual files.
Last update: Monday, 07-Jan-2008 13:32:55 CST


• FXrays is a small, fast C implementation of an algorithm for finding extremal rays of polyhedral cones with filtering. It is intended to be used to find embedded normal surfaces in triangulated 3-manifolds. You can build it either as a C module for linking with your own code, or as a Python module. FXrays is available as a tarball,  or as individual files.
Last update: Wednesday, 06-Aug-2003 15:43:41 CDT


• T3m is a box of tinker toys for topologists. Use it for studying triangulations of 3-manifolds at the Python prompt. It is written entirely in Python, so you can take it apart and put it back together your own way. Requires Python-2.2 AND the two packages above. T3m is available as a tarball,  or as individual files.
Last update: Sunday, 06-Aug-2006 11:18:31 CDT


• Gridlink is a graphical tool for manipulating link projections consisting of vertical and horizontal arcs in the plane. These projections are used in Ivan Dynnikov's recognition algorithms for split links and the unknot. They also are used in the combinatorial description of knot and link Floer homology given first by C. Manolescu, P. Ozsvath and S. Sarkar, and explained further by C. Manolescu, P. Ozsvath, Z. Szabo and D. Thurston. The program can accept a closed braid description of a link, and can automatically simplify the projection. It also computes mod 2 Heegaard Floer Knot homology, using the py_hfk module described below. Requires Python-2.3 with Tkinter. Packages and installation instructions for UNIX and OS X are on the gridlink home page. You may also have a look at the individual files.
Last update: Wednesday, 28-Mar-2007 15:00:37 CDT


• The py_hfk package is a python binding for the C++ code written by John A. Baldwin and W. D. Gillam to compute mod 2 Heegaard Floer Knot homology. Some modifications have been made to increase speed and reduce memory usage. The original code is available here. The python package is available as a tarball,  or as individual files.
Last update: Saturday, 27-Jan-2007 16:48:09 CST


• John Berge's famous program Heegaard is now available here. The program can contruct a Heegaard diagram from a group presentation, if the presentation is realizable, and use geometric T-transformations to simplify the diagram. A 1998 Mac OS9 binary is available. (Unpack with Stuffit Expander.) The program has also been ported to gcc. The gcc port is available in source form, either as a tarball or as individual files . Check the README file for instructions on compiling and using the program. The source distribution also contains extensive documentation describing the theory behind how the program works: there is a 30 page article available as PDF or TeX. There is also a set of examples in UNIX or MAC OS 9 format. The MAC OS 9 version of the program has a graphics module for drawing Heegaard diagrams. Unfortunately, the graphics is not yet available in the gcc port.
  Last update: Thursday, 22-Sep-2005 14:48:47 CDT