Lifting smooth curves over invariants for representations of compact Lie groups (Q1576594)

Consider an orthogonal linear representation of a compact Lie group \(G\) on a real vector space \(V\). Let \(\sigma_1,\ldots,\sigma_n\) be a system of homogeneous generators for the algebra of invariant polynomials on \(V\). The mapping \(\sigma=(\sigma_1,\ldots,\sigma_n): V\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^n\) defines a bijection of the orbit space \(V/G\) to the semialgebraic set \(\sigma (V)\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\). A curve \(c:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow V/G=\sigma (V)\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\) is called smooth if it is smooth as a curve in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) (this notion is well defined). The authors consider the following problem: Given a smooth curve \(c\), does there exist a smooth lift to \(V\), i.e., a smooth curve \(\overline{c}:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow V\) with \(c=\sigma\circ\overline{c}\) ? The main results of the paper are the following: (1) A real analytic curve \(c\) admits a local real analytic lift \(\overline{c}\). (2) A smooth curve \(c\) admits a global smooth lift \(\overline{c}\) if it satisfies a certain genericity condition (explicitly specified in the paper). (3) If the representation of \(G\) on \(V\) is polar, then a real analytic curve or a generic smooth one admits an orthogonal lift, i.e., a lift meeting orbits orthogonally, which is unique up to a transformation from \(G\).