Real function singularities and their bifurcation sets

DOI10.1007/978-3-031-68711-2_2MaRDI QIDQ7012141zbMATH OpenFDO

Publication date 17 March 2025

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68711-2_2

caustic discriminant Lagrange characteristic classes Maxwell set Morse theory real function singularities wave front

Singularities in algebraic geometry (14B05) Global theory of complex singularities; cohomological properties (32S20) Global theory of singularities (58K30)

Review text

The best and shortest overview on this nice and interesting survey is given in the abstract:\N\N``Various bifurcation sets of generic families of real differentiable functions, their typical singularities and appearance in sciences are described. Particular attention is paid to the enumeration and topology of the connected components of the complements of bifurcation sets of function singularities. \N\NThis reach material is organized into 12 sections as follows : introduction, Main definitions (basic terminology, discriminant, caustic, Maxwell set, ghosts of complex bifurcations, boundary singularities and their discriminants, remark on the global theory), First examples (pictures of discriminants, caustics, Maxwell sets), Classification of real function singularities (simple singularities, parabolic singularities, simple boundary singularities and their versal deformations), Discriminants, wave fronts and projective duality (projective duality, wave fronts), Wave fronts in integral geometry and hyperbolic PDEs (singularities of volume functions, boundary/asymptotic version of the volume function, hyperbolic PDEs), Caustics in optics (caustics as focal sets, Lagrangian singularities), Complements of discriminants of simple and parabolic singularities (results of E. Looijenga, topological invariant of non-discriminant components, on 1-cohomology of complements of discriminants, complements of discriminants of parabolic singularities, case of simple boundary singularities), Complements of caustics of simple and parabolic function singularities (numbers of components, 1-cohomology of components, higher homology, invariants of complements of caustics, examples, exceptional orbits), Algorithmic enumeration of topological types of morsifications of real function singularities (concept, virtual morsifications and surgeries, the work of the program in the case of simple singularities, main and reduced programs, what fails for not simple singularities and what can be saved, is the algorithm finite and what to do otherwise?, two-dimensional features, example), A global aspect: Lagrange characteristic classes, Generalized discriminants and their simplicial resolutions (examples, simplicial resolution of discriminant sets). A suggestive bibliography containing 65 references is included, 12 of these representing important contributions of the author.\N\NThe present work is useful not only for professional researchers but also for everybody interested to understand some ideas and techniques of this modern and active field of mathematics.\N\NFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1560.58001].

Cites work

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

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