Removing isolated zeroes by homotopy

Abstract: Suppose that the inverse image of the zero vector by a continuous map

f : {m a t h b b R}^{n} o {m a t h b b R}^{q}

has an isolated point

P

. There is a local obstruction to removing this isolated zero by a small perturbation, generalizing the notion of index for vector fields, the

q = n

case. The existence of a continuous map

g

which approximates

f

but is nonvanishing near

P

is equivalent to a topological property we call "locally inessential," and for dimensions

n

,

q

where

p i_{n - 1} (S^{q - 1})

is trivial, every isolated zero is locally inessential. We consider the problem of constructing such an approximation

g

, and show that there exists a continuous homotopy from

f

to

g

through locally nonvanishing maps. If

f

is a semialgebraic map, then there exists such a homotopy which is also semialgebraic. For

q = 2

and

f

real analytic with a locally inessential isolated zero, there exists a H"older continuous homotopy

F (x, t)

which, for

(x, t) e (P, 0)

, is real analytic and nonvanishing. The existence of a smooth homotopy, given a smooth map

f

, is stated as an open question.

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