Morse index of multiplicity one min-max minimal hypersurfaces (Q2219332)

Morse theory concerns the relationship between the structure of the set of critical points of a typical function and the topology of the space on which the function is defined. It was originally devised by Morse to study geodesics, as these are critical points of the length functional defined in the space of paths. The authors are motivated by the problem of developing a Morse theory for the \(n\)-dimensional area functional, defined on the space of closed hypersurfaces of some compact manifold \(M^{n+1}\). Minimal hypersurfaces are the critical points. In this paper, they prove that the Morse index of a multiplicity one, smooth, min-max minimal hypersurface is generically equal to the dimension of the homology class detected by the families used in the construction. This confirms part of the program proposed by them to obtain a Morse-theoretic description of the set of minimal hypersurfaces in the generic case.