Some special cases of Bobadilla's conjecture (Q501594)

Let \(f:(\mathbb{C}^{n+1},0)\to (\mathbb{C},0)\) be the germ of a complex analytic function with \(1\)-dimensional critical locus \(\Sigma_f\) at the origin. Let \(F_{f,0}\) be the Milnor fibre of \(f\) at the origin. Suppose that \(\widetilde{H}^\ast(F_{f,0}, \mathbb{Z})\) is non-zero only in degree \(n-1\) and that \(\widetilde{H}^{n-1}(F_{f,0}, \mathbb{Z})\simeq\underset{C}{\oplus}\mathbb{Z}^{\mu^0_C}\). Here the sum is over all irreducible components \(C\) of \(\Sigma_f\) at \(0\) and \(\mu^0_C\) is the Milnor number of \(f\), restricted to a generic hyperplane slice at a point \(p\in C\smallsetminus\{0\}\) close to \(0\). The Bobadilla conjecture is that \(\Sigma f\) has a single irreducible component, which is smooth. Two special cases of the Bobadilla conjecture are proved. The basic tool is the so-called beta invariant [\textit{D.B. Massey}, ``A new conjecture, a new invariant and a new non-splitting result'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1410.3316}].