A homotopy invariant of stable maps to oriented surfaces

arXiv2208.07297MaRDI QIDQ6407908FDOQ6407908

Liam Kahmeyer, Rustam Sadykov

Publication date: 15 August 2022

Abstract: The singular set of a generic map $f:MoF$ of a manifold $M$ of dimension $mge2$ to an oriented surface $F$ is a closed smooth curve $Sigma(f)$. We study the parity of the number of components of $Sigma(f)$. The image $f(Sigma)$ of the singular set inherits canonical local orientations via so-called chessboard functions. Such a local orientation gives rise to the cumulative winding number $omega(f)infrac12mathbbZ$ of $Sigma(f)$. When the dimension of the manifold $M$ is even we also define an invariant $I(f)$ which is the residue class modulo $4$ of the sum of the number of components of $Sigma(f)$, the number of cusps, and twice the number of self-intersection points of $f(Sigma)$. Using the cumulative winding number and the invariant $I(f)$, we show that the parity of the number of connected components of $Sigma(f)$ does not change under homotopy of $f$ provided that one of the following conditions is satisfied: (i) the dimension of $M$ is even, (ii) the singular set of the homotopy is an orientable manifold, or (iii) the image of the singular set of the homotopy does not have triple self-intersection points.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Singularities of differentiable mappings in differential topology (57R45) Topological invariants on manifolds (58K65) Global theory of singularities (58K30)

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