Conley-Morse-Forman theory for generalized combinatorial multivector fields on finite topological spaces

Abstract We generalize and extend the Conley-Morse-Forman theory for combinatorial multivector fields introduced in Mrozek (Found Comput Math 17(6):1585–1633, 2017). The generalization is threefold. First, we drop the restraining assumption in Mrozek (Found Comput Math 17(6):1585–1633, 2017) that every multivector must have a unique maximal element. Second, we define the dynamical system induced by the multivector field in a less restrictive way. Finally, we also change the setting from Lefschetz complexes to finite topological spaces. Formally, the new setting is more general, because every Lefschetz complex is a finite topological space, but the main reason for switching to finite topologcial spaces is because the latter better explain some peculiarities of combinatorial topological dynamics. We define isolated invariant sets, isolating neighborhoods, Conley index and Morse decompositions. We also establish the additivity property of the Conley index and the Morse inequalities.