Enumeration of curves with two singular points (Q496562)

Let \(M\) be a smooth, compact algebraic variety. The aim of this paper is to obtain an explicit formula for the number of degree \(d\) curves in the two dimensional complex projective space \(\mathbb{P}^2\), passing through \((d(d +3)/2 -(k+1))\) generic points and having one node and one codimension \(k\) singularity, where \(k\) is at most \(6\). In the past, many of these numbers were computed using techniques from algebraic geometry. In this paper, the authors use purely topological methods to count curves. Their main tool is a classical fact from differential topology: the number of zeros of a generic smooth section of a vector bundle \(V\) over \(M\), counted with a sign, is the Euler class of V evaluated on the fundamental class of \(M\).