The class of Eisenbud-Khimshiashvili-Levine is the local \(\mathbb{A}^1\)-Brouwer degree (Q1734003)

This paper is a solid step towards the understanding of algebraic invariants given by quadratic forms that arise naturally in motivic homotopy theory. In topology, if $f:\mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{R}^n$ is a continuous map with an isolated zero at the origin, the classical local Brouwer degree is the integer given by the degree of the induced map between sufficiently small $(n-1)$-spheres. In algebraic geometry, there is a similar definition using motivic homotopy theory (Definition 11): if $k$ is a field and $f:\mathbb{A}^n_k\to\mathbb{A}^n_k$ is a morphism of schemes with an isolated zero at the origin, its local $\mathbb{A}^1$-Brouwer degree is the $\mathbb{A}^1$-degree (as defined by \textit{F. Morel} [in: Proceedings of the international congress of mathematicians (ICM), Madrid, Spain, August 22--30, 2006. Volume II: Invited lectures. Zürich: European Mathematical Society (EMS). 1035--1059 (2006; Zbl 1097.14014)] of the induced endomorphism of the motivic sphere $\mathbb{P}^{n}_k/\mathbb{P}^{n-1}_k$, which is an element in the Grothendieck-Witt group $GW(k)$. The main result of the paper states that this class agrees with the Eisenbud-Khimshiashvili-Levine class (EKL class) of $f$ (Definition 7), which is the class of the symmetric bilinear form over the local algebra defined by the distinguished socle element (Definition 1) in $GW(k)$. This result contains former results of Eisenbud-Levine, Khimshiashvili and Palamodov as particular cases by taking the signature or rank of this equality. The authors first prove the result in the case where $f$ has simple zero using the work of \textit{M. Hoyois} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 14, No. 6, 3603--3658 (2014; Zbl 1351.14013)], and then deduce the general case by moving along fibers to have a regular value. \par From a computational point of view, there are well-behaved algorithms that compute the ELK class from the equations of $f$. The authors then give applications of the main result in enumerative geometry: given an isolated hypersurface singularity at the origin in $\mathbb{A}^n_k$, the arithmetic (or $\mathbb{A}^1$-)Milnor number is defined as the local $\mathbb{A}^1$-Brouwer degree of the gradient of its defining equation. This invariant gives arithmetic information that measures the bifurcation of the hypersurface at the nodes.