A Thom-Smale-Witten theorem on manifolds with boundary (Q1707225)

If \(M\) is a smooth \(n\)-dimensional closed manifold, then a smooth function \(f: M\to\mathbb R\) is a Morse function on \(M\) if its critical points are all non-degenerate. For a Morse function \(f\) on \(M\) there is a Riemannian metric such that the gradient vector field \(\nabla f\) satisfies the Morse-Smale transversality conditions. In [Geom. Dedicata 153, 47--57 (2011; Zbl 1223.57020)], \textit{F. Laudenbach} defined a chain complex \((C^\bullet,\partial)\), called Thom-Smale complex, having the critical points as generators and boundary map expressed in terms of the unstable and stable manifolds. For each \(q\), \(C_q\) is the free group generated by critical points of Morse index \(q\), and for each generator \(x\in C_q\), the boundary map is defined by \( \partial_q(x) = \sum_y n(x,y)y\), where \(y\)'s are generators of \(C_{q-1}\) and \(n(x,y)\) is the number of connecting orbits counting orientation. The homology of the chain complex is isomorphic to \(H_*(M; {\mathbb Z})\). If \(P_\infty\) is the natural morphism from the de Rham complex \((\Omega^\bullet(M),d)\) to the Thom-Smale complex \((C^\bullet,\partial)\) defined as \(P_\infty(\alpha)=\sum\limits_{p\in C(f)\cup C_{\_}(f_{|\partial M})}\) \([p]^*\int\limits_{\overline{W^u(p)}}\alpha\), then \(P_{\infty,T}(\alpha)=P_\infty(e^{Tf}\alpha)\) for \(\alpha\in F^{C_0}_{T,\bullet}\), where \(F^{C_0}_{T,j}\) is the \((c_j+p_j)\)-dimensional vector space generated by the eigenspaces associated to the eigenvalues lying in \([0,C_0)\) so that for \(C_0>0\) there exists \(T_0>0\) such that for \(T\geq T_0\), the number of eigenvalues in \([0,C_0)\) equals \(c_j+p_j\). \((F^{C_0}_{T,\bullet},d_T)\) is a complex. In this paper, the author studies Morse theory on a manifold with boundary. It is shown that the map \(P_{\infty,T}:(F^{C_0}_{T,\bullet},d_T)\to(C^\bullet,\partial)\) is an isomorphism of complexes for sufficiently large \(T\). In particular, the chain map \(P_\infty\) is a quasi-isomorphism between the de Rham complex \((\Omega^\bullet(M),d)\) and the Thom-Smale complex \((C^\bullet,\partial)\). Also, the author shows that \(\sum\limits_{j=0}^k(-1)^{k-j}\beta_j(M)\leq\sum\limits_{j=0}^k(-1)^{k-j}(c_j+p_j)\) for any \(k=0,1,\dots,n\), where \(\beta_j(M)\) is the \(j\)-th Betti number of the de Rham complex.