Morse theory on Banach manifolds

LetM be aC ²-Finsler manifold modeled on a Banach space, and letf be aC ²-real-valued function defined onM. Using theA-gradient vector field which was introduced in [31] we give a suitable definition for nondegenegacy of critical points off, then generalize the Morse handle-body decomposition theorem and the Morse inequalities to a kind of Banach manifolds. A generalization in the reflexive case has been done in [31].     

Perturbed closed geodesics are periodic orbits: Index and transversality

We study the classical action functional ${\cal S}_V$ on the free loop space of a closed, finite dimensional Riemannian manifold M and the symplectic action on the free loop space of its cotangent bundle. The critical points of both functionals can be identified with the set of perturbed closed geodesics in M. The potential $V\in C^\infty(M\times S^1,\mathbb{R})$ serves as perturbation and we show that both functionals are Morse for generic V. In this case we prove that the Morse index of a critical point x of equals minus its Conley-Zehnder index when viewed as a critical point of and if is trivial. Otherwise a correction term +1 appears. Received: 21 May 2001; in final form: 10 October 2001 / Published online: 4 April 2002     

Conditional extremals in complete Riemannian manifolds

Conditional extremal curves in a complete Riemannian manifold M are defined as the critical points of the squared L² distance between the tangent vector field of a curve and a so-called prior vector field. We prove that this L² distance satisfies the Palais-Smale condition on the space of absolutely continuous curves joining two submanifolds of M, and thus establish the existence of critical points. We also prove a Morse index theorem in the case where the two submanifolds are single points, and use the Morse inequalities to place lower bounds on the number of critical points of each index.     

Maslov index and Morse theory for the relativistic Lorentz force equation

We study the Jacobi equation for fixed endpoints solutions of the Lorentz force equation on a Lorentzian manifold. The flow of the Jacobi equation along each solution preserves the so-called twisted symplectic form, and the corresponding curve in the symplectic group determines an integer valued homology class called the Maslov index of the solution. We introduce the notion of F-conjugate plane for each conjugate instant; the restriction of the spacetime metric to the F-conjugate plane is used to compute the Maslov index, which is given by a sort of algebraic count of the conjugate instants. For a stationary Lorentzian manifold and an exact electromagnetic field admitting a potential vector field preserving the flow of the Killing vector field, we introduce a constrained action functional having finite Morse index and whose critical points are fixed endpoints solution of the Lorentz force equation. We prove that the value of this Morse index equals the Maslov index and we prove the Morse relations for the solutions of the Lorentz force equation in a static spacetime.Mathematics Subject Classification (2002): Primary: 58E10, 83C10; Secondary: 53D12     

A Note on the Linearity of Real-valued Functions with Respect to Suitable Metrics

In this paper we prove that for every real-valued Morse function φ on a smooth closed manifold ℳ and every neighborhood U of its critical points a suitable Riemannian metric μ _U exists such that φ is linear outside U     

Fonctions de Morse sur les espaces exotiques

Summary It is shown that on an exotique space V_2n−1 of Kervaire type, we can construct a Morse function having only four critical points, the maximum, the minimum and two points of index n−1 and n.

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Entrata in Redazione il 20 ottobre 1972.     

Morse and semistable stratifications of K?hler spacesby \Bbb C*{\Bbb C}^{\ast}-actions

We prove that the Morse decomposition in the sense of Kirwan and semistable decomposition in the sense of GIT of a \Bbb C^*{\Bbb C}^{\ast} -K?hler manifold coincide if the moment map is proper and if the fixed points set X^{\Bbb C*}X^{{\Bbb C}^{\ast}} has a finite number of connected components. For general K?hler space with holomorphic action of a complex reductive group G, if every component of the moment map is proper, the two decompositions also coincide if each semistable piece is Zariski open in its topological closure and the moment map square is minimal degenerate Morse function in the sense of Kirwan.     

The Morse–Witten complex via dynamical systems

Given a smooth closed manifold M, the Morse–Witten complex associated to a Morse function f and a Riemannian metric g on M consists of chain groups generated by the critical points of f and a boundary operator counting isolated flow lines of the negative gradient flow. Its homology reproduces singular homology of M. The geometric approach presented here was developed in Weber [Der Morse–Witten Komplex, Diploma Thesis, TU Berlin, 1993] and is based on tools from hyperbolic dynamical systems. For instance, we apply the Grobman–Hartman theorem and the λ-lemma (Inclination Lemma) to analyze compactness and define gluing for the moduli space of flow lines.     

Critical Points Index for Vector Functions and Vector Optimization

In this work, we study the critical points of vector functions from ℝ ⁿ to ℝ ^m with n≥m, following the definition introduced by Smale in the context of vector optimization. The local monotonicity properties of a vector function around a critical point which are invariant with respect to local coordinate changes are considered. We propose a classification of critical points through the introduction of a generalized Morse index for a critical point, consisting of a triplet of nonnegative integers. The proposed index is based on the sign of an appropriate invariant vector-valued second-order differential.     

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.     

A Morse Index Theorem for Elliptic Operators on Bounded Domains

Given a selfadjoint, elliptic operator L, one would like to know how the spectrum changes as the spatial domain Ω ? ? ⁿ is deformed. For a family of domains {Ω _t } _{t∈[a, b]} we prove that the Morse index of L on Ω _a differs from the Morse index of L on Ω _b by the Maslov index of a path of Lagrangian subspaces on the boundary of Ω. This is particularly useful when Ω _a is a domain for which the Morse index is known, e.g. a region with very small volume. Then the Maslov index computes the difference of Morse indices for the “original” problem (on Ω _b ) and the “simplified” problem (on Ω _a ). This generalizes previous multi-dimensional Morse index theorems that were only available on star-shaped domains or for Dirichlet boundary conditions. We also discuss how one can compute the Maslov index using crossing forms, and present some applications to the spectral theory of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems.     

Morse theory for minimal surfaces in manifolds

A Morse theory of a given function gives information of the numbers of critical points of some topological type. A minimal surface, bounded by a given curve in a manifold, is characterized as a harmonic extension of a critical point of the functional \({\mathcal E}\) which corresponds to the Dirichlet integral. We want to obtain Morse theories for minimal surfaces in Riemannian manifolds. We first investigate the higher differentiabilities of \({\mathcal E}\). We then develop a Morse inequality for minimal surfaces of annulus type in a Riemannian manifold. Furthermore, we also construct body handle theories for minimal surfaces of annulus type as well as of disc type. Here we give a setting where the functional \({\mathcal E}\) is non-degenerated.     

G-invariante Morse-funktionen

If f is a Morse function on a smooth manifold M there exists a homotopy equivalence from M to a CW complex X such that the critical points of f with index are in a one-one correspondence to the -cells of X. In the equivariant case, a similar result holds for a special type of invariant Morse functions. In this paper we prove the existence of such special invariant Morse functions on compact smooth G-manifolds. As a consequence, any compact smooth G-manifold is homotopy equivalent to a G-CW complex. Other applications deal with the Euler number of the fixed point set and Morse inequalities in equivariant homology theory.     

A Morse complex for infinite dimensional manifolds—part I

In this paper and in the forthcoming Part II, we introduce a Morse complex for a class of functions f defined on an infinite dimensional Hilbert manifold M, possibly having critical points of infinite Morse index and co-index. The idea is to consider an infinite dimensional subbundle—or more generally an essential subbundle—of the tangent bundle of M, suitably related with the gradient flow of f. This Part I deals with the following questions about the intersection W of the unstable manifold of a critical point x and the stable manifold of another critical point y: finite dimensionality of W, possibility that different components of W have different dimension, orientability of W and coherence in the choice of an orientation, compactness of the closure of W, classification, up to topological conjugacy, of the gradient flow on the closure of W, in the case .     

Critical configurations of planar robot arms

It is known that a closed polygon P is a critical point of the oriented area function if and only if P is a cyclic polygon, that is, P can be inscribed in a circle. Moreover, there is a short formula for the Morse index. Going further in this direction, we extend these results to the case of open polygonal chains, or robot arms. We introduce the notion of the oriented area for an open polygonal chain, prove that critical points are exactly the cyclic configurations with antipodal endpoints and derive a formula for the Morse index of a critical configuration.     

The Relation of the Morse Index of Closed Geodesics with the Maslov-type Index of Symplectic Paths

In this paper, we consider the relation of the Morse index of a closed geodesic with the Maslov–type index of a path in a symplectic group. More precisely, for a closed geodesic c on a Riemannian manifold M with its linear Poincaré map P (a symplectic matrix), we construct a symplectic path γ(t) starting from identity I and ending at P, such that the Morse index of the closed geodesic c equals the Maslov–type index of γ. As an application of this result, we study the parity of the Morse index of any closed geodesic. Project 10071040 supported by NNSF, 200014 supported by Excellent. Ph.D. Funds of ME of China, and PMC Key Lab. of ME of China     

A deformation lemma on aC 1 manifold

The classical construction of deformations by mean of pseudo-gradient vector fields requires theC ^1,1 regularity. Here, we are concerned with a deformation lemma for aC ¹ function on a manifold defined by aC ¹ functional. We will assume some coupled Palais-Smale conditions between the two functions. The deformation is constructed with the help of integral lines of pseudo-gradient vector fields on a foliation of the manifold. Three different constructions are used for a sub-manifold of codimension 1 in finite dimension, then in infinite dimension and lastly a sub-manifold of any finite codimension in an infinite dimensional Banach space.     

Morse theory for some lower-C 2 functions in finite dimension

Using inf-regularization methods, we prove that Morse inequalities hold for some lower-C ² functions. For this purpose, we first recall some properties of the class of lower-C ² functions and of their Moreau-Yosida approximations. Then, we establish, under some qualification conditions on the critical points, that it is possible to define a Morse index for a lower-C ² functionf. This index is preserved by the Moreau-Yosida approximation process. We prove in particular that the Moreau-Yosida approximations are twice continuolusly differentiable around such a critical point which is shown to be a strict local minimum of the restriction off and of its approximations to some affine space. In a last step, Morse inequalities are written for Moreau-Yosida approximations and with the aid of deformation retractions we prove that these inequalities also hold for some lower-C ² functions.     

Geometrical Decomposition of the Free Loop Space on a Manifold with Finitely Many Closed Geodesics

In Morse theory an isolated degenerate critical point can be resolved into a finite number of nondegenerate critical points by perturbing the totally degenerate part of the Morse function inside the domain of a generalized Morse chart. Up to homotopy we can admit pertubations within the whole characteristic manifold. Up to homotopy type a relative CW-complex is attached, which is the product of a big relative CW-complex, representing the degenerate part, and a small cell having the dimension of the Morse index.     

Homotopical dynamics II: Hopf invariants, smoothings and the Morse complex

The ambient framed bordism class of the connecting manifold of two consecutive critical points of a Morse-Smale function is estimated by means of a certain Hopf invariant. Applications include new examples of non-smoothable Poincaré duality spaces as well as an extension of the Morse complex.