Elementary Methods for Persistent Homotopy Groups

We study the foundational properties of persistent homotopy groups and develop elementary computational methods for their analysis. Our main theorems are persistent analogues of the Van Kampen, excision, suspension, and Hurewicz theorems. We prove a persistent excision theorem, derive from it a persistent Freudenthal suspension theorem, and obtain a persistent Hurewicz theorem relating the first nonzero persistent homotopy group of a space to …