  The experiments involving a slider moving on top of granular media consisting
of photoelastic particles in two dimensions have uncovered elaborate dynamics
that may vary from continuous motion to crackling, periodic motion, and
stick-slip type of behavior. We establish that there is a clear correlation
between the slider dynamics and the response of the force network that
spontaneously develop in the granular system. This correlation is established
by application of the persistence homology that allows for formulation of
objective measures for quantification of time-dependent force networks. We find
that correlation between the slider dynamics and the force network properties
is particularly strong in the dynamical regime characterized by well-defined
stick-slip type of dynamics.
