Topological data analysis model for the spread of the coronavirus

A bstract We apply topological data analysis, specifically the Mapper algorithm, to the U.S. COVID-19 data. The resulting Mapper graphs provide visualizations of the pandemic that are more complete than those supplied by other, more standard methods. They encode a variety of geometric features of the data cloud created from geographic information, time progression, and the number of COVID-19 cases. They reflect the development of the pandemic across all of the U.S. and capture the growth rates as well as the regional prominence of hot-spots. The Mapper graphs allow for easy comparisons across time and space and have the potential of becoming a useful predictive tool for the spread of the coronavirus.