Surface coding based on Morse theory

Coding system requirements are briefly discussed. Classical Morse theory, which was primarily motivated by the calculus of variations, is reviewed. The limits of the theory are examined, and an extension that enables 3-D surfaces to be accurately reconstructed from cross sections is presented. The resulting coding works interactively with a range of surface reconstruction systems. The prototype coding system is applied to representing the hierarchical structure of contours.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>