Manifolds which admit maps with finitely many critical points into spheres of small dimensions (Q1616287)

Let \(M^m\) be a compact manifold of dimension \(m\), \(\varphi: M^m \rightarrow S^n\) a smooth map to the \(n\)-sphere and \(\varphi(M^m,S^n)\) the minimal number of critical points of \(\varphi\). The authors construct a series of examples with nonzero finite numbers \(\varphi(M^m, S^n)\) for \(m\geqslant 6\) and \(2n \leqslant m\), for even \(m\geqslant 6\) and \(n=3\), and for some other cases. In addition, they compute the signature of the manifolds \(M^{2n}\) occurring for even \(n\). The authors also underline that their approach is mainly based on some earlier papers, including [\textit{L. Funar}, Ann. Sc. Norm. Super. Pisa, Cl. Sci. (5) 10, No. 4, 819--861 (2011; Zbl 1241.57037)], [\textit{R. Araújo Dos Santos} et al., Ann. Inst. Fourier 66, No. 1, 83--104 (2016; Zbl 1359.32024)], etc.