Comparison between two complexes on a singular space (Q5892343)

Previously, \textit{E. Witten} [J. Differ. Geom. 17, 661--692 (1982; Zbl 0499.53056)] used a suitable deformation of the de Rham complex to give a new proof of the Morse inequalities. He first established the ``spectral gap theorem'' for the Witten Laplacian and then compared the deformed de Rham complex with the Morse-Thom-Smale complex. In the present article, this program is extended to the singular setting where \(X\) is an \(n\)-dimensional compact oriented Thom-Mather stratified pseudo manifold and where the function under consideration is a radial Morse function. \S1 contains an introduction to the matter at hand. \S2 deals with stratified spaces and intersection homology. \S3 treats the \(L^2\) cohomology of \(X\) and the Witten deformation. \S4 presents the local model operator on a cone. \S5 gives the spectral gap theorem. \S6 discusses the geometrical complex. \S7 gives a comparison theorem. There is an appendix dealing with integration over model forms.