Isotopy classification of Morse polynomials of degree four on \(\mathbb{R}^2\) (Q6970189)

A polynomial \(\mathbb{R}^2\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\) is \textit{Morse} if all its real critical points are Morse. It is \textit{strictly Morse} if, in addition, all its critical values at real critical points are different.\N\NIn the space of all degree \(d\) polynomials \(\mathbb{R}^2\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\) all critical points of a general polynomial are Morse, and its principal (of degree \(d\)) homogeneous part vanishes on \(d\) different lines in \(\mathbb{C}^2\). The set of polynomials satisfying these genericity conditions is disconnected: the variety of non-generic polynomials separates it into connected components.\N\NThe global algebraic version of the enumeration of discriminant complements, i.e., the classification of real polynomials with non-singular zero level sets, is very popular, especially since the 16th Hilbert problem, while a similar study of spaces of Morse polynomials is less developed. For some early steps in the latter direction, see [\textit{V. I. Arnold}, Duke Math. J. 63, No. 2, 537--555 (1991; Zbl 0755.58015)], where topological types of real Morse polynomials in one variable were enumerated, and [\textit{V. I. Arnold}, Math. Phys. Anal. Geom. 10, No. 3, 227--236 (2007; Zbl 1149.57044); Proc. Steklov Inst. Math. 268, 32--48 (2010; Zbl 1214.57026)] containing some bounds on the number of possible topological types for strictly Morse polynomials of degree 4 with negative principal homogeneous parts in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) and maximal possible number of real critical points. See also [\textit{L. I. Nicolaescu}, Compos. Math. 144, No. 5, 1081--1106 (2008; Zbl 1146.05004)], where the numbers of topological types of strictly Morse functions with a given number of critical points on \(S^2\) are computed; this implies upper bounds on the numbers of topological types of Morse polynomials with positive or negative principal homogeneous parts of a given degree on \(\mathbb{R}^2\). In the corresponding local theory, all topological types of arbitrarily small Morse perturbations of real simple singularities were enumerated, see [\textit{V. V. Goryunov}, Am. Math. Soc. 173, 85-96 (1996; Zbl 0858.58007)].\N\NThe author studies the classification of all (not necessarily strictly) Morse polynomials of a fixed degree \(d\) on \(\mathbb{R}^2\) up to the more restrictive isotopy equivalence relation: two polynomials are isotopic if they belong to the same connected component of the space of Morse polynomials. For \(d=4\), although the number 71, by the author's calculation, of such classes is obviously smaller than the one for strictly Morse polynomials, the classification of them is more complicated.\N\NThe author defines invariants of isotopy classes in topological terms for zero sets of these polynomials in \(\mathbb{C}^2\). Computing all possible values of these invariants is a combinatorial problem that can be solved algorithmically. These values also provide clues to the construction of polynomials realizing them. The author solves these problems explicitly in the case of polynomials of degree \(\leq 4\), listing all possible values of these invariants, presenting the polynomials having these values and proving the completeness of the invariants in this case. Many obtained examples of Morse polynomials with many critical points seem to be unexpected.\N\NThe author also enumerates the isotopy classes of strictly Morse polynomials of degree 4 with the maximal possible number (equal to 9) of real critical points. He explicitly realizes all existing classes of such polynomials. This result is a real version of the list from [\textit{P. Jaworski}, Bull. Sci. Math., II. Ser. 112, No. 2, 143--176 (1988; Zbl 0674.14002)] of possible decompositions of complex \(X_9\) singularities into pairs of simple singularities. These examples provide many obstructions to the equisingularity for bifurcation sets along the Milnor number \(\mu\) = const varieties of real function singularities of class \(X_9\).