Adaptive Covers for Mapper Graphs Using Information Criteria

The mapper construction is a widely used tool from topological data analysis in obtaining topological summaries of large, high-dimensional point cloud data. It has enjoyed great success in data science, including cancer research, sports analytics, and visualization. However, developing practical and automatic parameter selection for the mapper construction remains a challenging open problem for both the topological analysis and visualization communities. In this paper, we focus on parameter selection for the 1-dimensional skeleton of the mapper construction, called the mapper graph. Specifically, we explore how information criteria used in the X-means clustering algorithm can inform and generate adaptive covers for mapper graphs. Our approach thus makes novel progress towards automatic parameter selection for the mapper construction using information theory.