Ljusternik-Schnirelmann theory and Conley index, a noncompact version (Q5929567)

This paper is devoted to the noncompact version of Conley index theory to obtain Ljusternik-Schnirelmann type result in critical point theory. Following the well-known Benci's approach to the Conley index, the author proves the following fact: Let \(X\) be a complete Finsler manifold, \(f\in C^1(X,R)\) which satisfies Palais-Smale condition and \(\varphi^t\) be the flow relative to a pseudo-gradient vector field for \(f\). If \(I\subset X\) is a \((c)\)-invariant set with \(f(I)\) bounded, then \(f\) has at least \(\nu_H(h(I))-1\) critical points in \(I\). Here \(h(I)\) is the Conley index of the \((c)\)-invariant set \(I\) and \(\nu_H\) is the (homotopy) Ljusternik-Schnirelmann category.