Path-components of Morse mappings spaces of surfaces (Q2388662)

Let \(M\) be a smooth connected compact surface with boundary \(\partial M\) (possibly empty) and let \(P\) be a one-dimensional manifold, i.e., either the real line \(\mathbb{R}^1\) or the circle \(S^1\). Consider the subspace \({\mathcal F}(M,P)\) of \(C^\infty(M,P)\) consisting of the Morse mapping \(M\to P\). The author gives a new proof of the following theorem: Two Morse mappings \(f,g:M\to P\) belong to the same path-component of \({\mathcal F}(M,P)\) if and only if they are homotopic, have the same number of critical points in each index, and the same sets of positive and negative components of \(\partial M\). The paper is well written and organized.