Simplicial volume

In the mathematical field of geometric topology, the simplicial volume (also called Gromov norm) is a measure of the topological complexity of a manifold.

More generally, the simplicial norm measures the complexity of homology classes.

Given a closed and oriented manifold, one defines the simplicial norm by minimizing the sum of the absolute values of the coefficients over all singular chains homologous to a given cycle.

[1] The simplicial volume is equal to twice the Thurston norm.

[3] Thurston also used the simplicial volume to prove that hyperbolic volume decreases under hyperbolic Dehn surgery.