Uniform Morse lemma and isotopy criterion for Morse functions on surfaces

Let M be a smooth compact (orientable or not) surface with or without a boundary. Let $ \mathcal{D}_0 $ \mathcal{D}_0 ⊂ Diff(M) be the group of diffeomorphisms homotopic to id _M . Two smooth functions f, g: M → ℝ are called isotopic if f = h ₂ ℴ g ℴ h ₁ for some diffeomorphisms h ₁ ∈ $ \mathcal{D}_0 $ \mathcal{D}_0 and h ₂ ∈ Diff⁺(ℝ). Let F be the space of Morse functions on M which are constant on each boundary component and have no critical points on the boundary. A criterion for two Morse functions from F to be isotopic is proved. For each Morse function f ∈ F, a collection of Morse local coordinates in disjoint circular neighborhoods of its critical points is constructed, which continuously and Diff(M)-equivariantly depends on f in C ^∞-topology on F (“uniform Morse lemma”). Applications of these results to the problem of describing the homotopy type of the space F are formulated.