AIDA

Automorphism Invariant Decomposition Algorithm

AIDA is a C++ library and tool for decomposing finitely presented multiparameter persistence modules into indecomposable summands. It implements the algorithm described in Dey, Jendrysiak, Kerber (2025) with significant optimizations for practical computation.

Key Features

• Decomposes all finitely presented multiparameter persistence modules (not limited to distinctly graded generators/relations)

• Fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the maximal number of relations of the same degree

• Optimized hom-space calculations for faster computation for modules with low layer-thickness (pointwise dimension of indecomposable summands)

• Runtime and statistical analysis tools

• Missing features: O(n³) algorithm for interval-decomposable modules

Installation

Prerequisites

• CMake ≥ 3.12
• C++17 compatible compiler
• Boost libraries (timer, chrono)
• Persistence-Algebra library

Building from Source

1. Clone both repositories into the same parent directory:

git clone https://github.com/JanJend/AIDA.git
git clone https://github.com/JanJend/Persistence-Algebra.git

Your directory structure should look like:

parent-dir/
├── AIDA/
└── Persistence-Algebra/

2. Build AIDA:

cd AIDA
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make

3. (Optional) Install system-wide:

sudo make install

This installs:

• Static library libaida.a to /usr/local/lib
• Executables to /usr/local/bin

Note for library users: If you want to use AIDA as a library in another CMake project, the install step above is required — not optional. Without it, libaida.a only exists inside the build directory and other programs will not be able to find it. The recommended way to install is:

sudo cmake --install build

Run this from the AIDA/ directory after building. You can also specify a custom install prefix:

cmake --install build --prefix /your/custom/path

After installing to a custom prefix, make sure to add the lib/ subdirectory to your linker search path (e.g. via LD_LIBRARY_PATH or your project's CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH).

Platform Support

AIDA should compile on Linux, Windows, and macOS. It has been primarily tested on Linux and Mac.

Usage

Basic Usage

aida <input_file> [options]

Input format: Minimized presentation in .scc (scc2020) or .firep format

Example:

aida tests/test_presentations/two_circles.scc -o 

saves the output as two_circles.sccsum or use

aida tests/test_presentations/two_circles.scc -o path/output.sccsum

to indicate the output path yourself

Executables

• aida: Main decomposition tool (optimized, no statistics)
• aida_with_stats: Same with indecomposable statistics enabled
• generate_decompositions: Utility for generating decomposition lists

Command-Line Options

General Options

• -h, --help - Display help message
• -v, --version - Display version information
• -o, --output [path] - Write output to file (default: stdout)
• -p, --progress - Show progress bar
• -l, --less_console - Suppress console output

Algorithm Options

• -b, --bruteforce - Use brute-force mode (stops hom-space optimization)
• -s, --sort - Lexicographically sort input relations
• -e, --exhaustive - Iterate over all decompositions
• -c, --basechange - Save base change matrix
• -f, --alpha - Enable alpha-homs computation

Analysis Options

• -t, --statistics - Show indecomposable summand statistics
• -r, --runtime - Display runtime statistics and timers

Optimization Options

• -j, --no_hom_opt - Disable optimized hom-space calculation
• -w, --no_col_sweep - Disable column sweep optimization

Debug Options

• -m, --compare_b - Compare with brute-force at runtime
• -a, --compare_e - Compare exhaustive vs brute-force
• -i, --compare_hom - Compare optimized vs non-optimized hom calculation

Output Format

AIDA outputs .sccsum files with the following structure:

sccsum
<number_of_indecomposables>

<type>
<summand_1_in_scc_format>

<type>
<summand_2_in_scc_format>
...

Indecomposable types:

• free: Module with one generator and no relations
• cyclic: One generator, not free
• interval: Non-cyclic interval module
• non-interval: All other modules

Example Workflow

# With statistics and runtime info and a progress bar
./aida_with_stats tests/test_presentations/two_circles.scc -t -r -p

Library Usage

AIDA can be used as a static library. Link against libaida.a and include headers from include/ and src/ (!) in future versions you should only have to link the include folder:

#include <aida_interface.hpp>
// Your code here

Important: Before using AIDA as a library in another project, make sure you have run sudo cmake --install build as described in the Installation section above. This places libaida.a and the headers in system-wide locations so your project's build system can find them.

Testing

Test presentations are available in tests/test_presentations/. Any .scc file can be used for testing:

./aida tests/test_presentations/davids_annulus_min.scc

Citation

@software{Jendrysiak_AIDA_2024,
  author  = {Jendrysiak, Jan},
  title   = {{AIDA}: Automorphism Invariant Decomposition Algorithm},
  year    = {2024},
  doi     = {10.4230/artifacts.23282},
  url     = {https://github.com/JanJend/AIDA},
  version = {0.2},
  license = {LGPL-3.0-or-later}
}

If you use AIDA in your research, please also cite the accompanying paper:

@InProceedings{djk25,
  author =	{Dey, Tamal K. and Jendrysiak, Jan and Kerber, Michael},
  title =	{{Decomposing Multiparameter Persistence Modules}},
  booktitle =	{41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)},
  pages =	{41:1--41:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-370-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{332},
  editor =	{Aichholzer, Oswin and Wang, Haitao},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.41},
}

Software DOI: 10.4230/artifacts.23282

License

AIDA is licensed under the LGPL-3.0-or-later license.

Authors

• Jan Jendrysiak (TU Graz) - ORCID

Version

Current version: 0.2.1 (Released: 2024-10-01)

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For questions, issues, or contributions, please open an issue on the repository.