Non-degenerate jump of Milnor numbers of surface singularities (Q2811513)

The authors consider the germ of a holomorphic function \(f:(\mathbb{C}^n,0)\rightarrow (\mathbb{C},0)\) having an isolated singularity at \(0\) (i.e., \(f(0)=0\), \(\nabla f(0)=0\) and \(\nabla f\not\equiv 0\)). The Milnor number of \(f\) at \(0\) equals \(\operatorname{dim}(\mathcal{O}_n/ \nabla f(0))\). The jump of the Milnor number is the minimal nonzero difference between the Milnor number of \(f\) and the one of a deformation of \(f\). The authors give a formula for the jump of the Milnor number in some class of surface singularities (i.e., for \(n=3\)) in the case of nondegenerate deformations.