On a generalized Poincaré-Hopf formula in infinite dimensions (Q632350)

The well-known Poincaré-Hopf formula states the following: if \(F\) is a smooth vector field on a compact smooth manifold \(M\) with a finite number of zeros, the sum of their topological indices is equal to the Euler characteristic \(\chi(M)\) of \(M\). Numerous generalizations of this result are based on the fact that the tangency of the vector field \(F\) implies that solutions to the initial value problem \(\dot{u}=f(u)\), \(u(0) =x_{0}\in M\), stay in \(M\). The authors raise the question regarding validity of such results for vector fields defined in a neighborhood of the invariant set in the case the tangency conditions with respect to the invariant set are violated. They study general completely continuous semiflows on absolute neighborhood retracts and, in particular, prove an infinite dimensional version of the Poincaré-Hopf formula. Since the proof requires a new fixed point index theory for spaces which are not metrizable, a class of approximate neighborhood extension spaces (ANES) containing classical absolute neighborhood retracts (ANR) is introduced. It is shown that \(B/B^{-}\) belongs to this class and a fixed point theory for compact maps locally defined on ANES spaces, consistent with the Granas index on ANR, is constructed.