A complex of basic forms of foliations (Q1603071)

Let \(M\) be a smooth compact connected manifold with a smooth foliation of codimension \(q\). A map of \(M\) to another manifold is said to be projectable when it is constant on each leaf. An analog of Sard theorem is discussed for projectable maps \(g:M\to{\mathbb R}^q\). Precisely, it is proved that all points of \(M\) are critical points of \(g\) if the compact leaves consist of critical points, and that the image of \(g\) is of measure zero if there are countably many compact leaves. The proof of the main results is a simple application of the inverse function theorem. These results have direct consequences for projectable maps with values in compact manifolds by the Whitney embedding theorem. When the foliation is of codimension one and there are countably many compact leaves, it also follows that the basic complex injects into the de~Rham cohomology of \(M\) for degree one.