In the case of smooth manifolds, we use Forman's discrete Morse theory to realize combinatorially any Thom-Smale complex coming from a smooth Morse function by a couple triangulation-discrete Morse function. As an application, we prove that any Euler structure on a smooth oriented closed 3-manifold has a particular realization by a complete matching on the Hasse diagram of a triangulation of the manifold.
We define the geometric complex associated to a Morse-Bott-Smale vector field, cf. [Austin-Braam, 1995], and its associated spectral sequence. We prove an extension of the Bismut-Zhang theorem to Morse-Bott-Smale functions. The proof is based on the Bismut-Zhang theorem for Morse-Smale functions, see [Bismut-Zhang, 1992].
We show that, up to topological conjugation, the equivalence class of a Morse-Smale diffeomorphism without heteroclinic curves on 3-manifold is completely defined by an em- bedding of two-dimensional stable and unstable heteroclinic laminations to a characteristic space.
The complete invariant for gradient like Morse-Smale dynamical systems (vector fields and diffeomorphisms) on closed 4-manifolds are constructed. It is same as Kirby diagram in a case of polar vector field without fixed points of index 3.
We give in this paper bounds for the Morse indices of a large class of simple geodesics on a surface with a generic metric. To our knowledge these bounds are the first that use only the generic hypothesis on the metric.
For a closed oriented 3-manifold $Y$ we define $n(Y)$ to be the minimal non-negative number such that in each homotopy class of non-singular vector fields of $Y$ there is a Morse-Smale vector field with less or equal to $n(Y)$ periodic orbits. We combine the construction process of Morse-Smale flows given in [2] with handle decompositions of compact orientable surfaces to provide an upper bound to the number $n(Y)$ for oriented Seifert manifolds and oriented graph manifolds prime to $\stwo\times\sone$.
This note deals with arbitrary Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms in dimension 3 and extends ideas from \cite{GrLaPo}, \cite{GrLaPo1}, where gradient-like case was considered. We introduce a kind of Morse-Lyapunov function, called dynamically ordered, which fits well dynamics of diffeomorphism. The paper is devoted to finding conditions to the existence of such an energy function, that is, a function whose set of critical points coincides with the non-wandering set of the considered diffeomorphism. We show that the necessary and sufficient conditions to the existence of a dynamically ordered energy f…
We analyse the topological (knot-theoretic) features of a certain codimension-one bifurcation of a partially hyperbolic fixed point in a flow on $\real^3$ originally described by Shil'nikov. By modifying how the invariant manifolds wrap around themselves, or ``pleat,'' we may apply the theory of templates, or branched two-manifolds, to capture the topology of the flow. This analysis yields a class of flows which bifurcate from a Morse-Smale flow to a Smale flow containing periodic orbits of all knot and link types.
The paper is devoted to finding conditions to the existence of a self-indexing energy function for Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms on a 3-manifold. These conditions involve how the stable and unstable manifolds of saddle points are embedded in the ambient manifold. We also show that the existence of a self-indexing energy function is equivalent to the existence of a Heegaard splitting of a special type with respect to the considered diffeomorphism.
We give a new proof of the Morse Homology Theorem by constructing a chain complex associated to a Morse-Bott-Smale function that reduces to the Morse-Smale-Witten chain complex when the function is Morse-Smale and to the chain complex of smooth singular $N$-cube chains when the function is constant. We show that the homology of the chain complex is independent of the Morse-Bott-Smale function by using compactified moduli spaces of time dependent gradient flow lines to prove a Floer-type continuation theorem.
In the first part of this paper, we consider smooth maps from a compact orientable 3-manifold without boundary to the 2-sphere. We give a geometric criterion to decide whether two given maps are homotopic, based on the sets of points where the maps are equal or antipodal. We extend this criterion to non-singular vector fields (and co-oriented plane fields) on 3-manifolds. In the second part, we make use of this criterion to study non-singular Morse-Smale vector fields on Seifert manifolds, giving a simple proof of a result of Yano.
On a smooth, compact and oriented manifold without boundary, we give a complete description of the correlation function of a Morse-Smale gradient flow satisfying a certain nonresonance assumption. This is done by analyzing precisely the spectrum of the generator of such a flow acting on certain anisotropic spaces of currents. In particular, we prove that this dynamical spectrum is given by linear combinations with integer coefficients of the Lyapunov exponents at the critical points of the Morse function. Via this spectral analysis and in analogy with Hodge-de Rham theory, we give an interpret…
Dilation surfaces are generalizations of translation surfaces where the transition maps of the atlas are translations and homotheties with a positive ratio. In contrast with translation surfaces, the directional flow on dilation surfaces may contain trajectories accumulating on a limit cycle. Such a limit cycle is called hyperbolic because it induces a nontrivial homothety. It has been conjectured that a dilation surface with no actual hyperbolic closed geodesic is in fact a translation surface. Assuming that a dilation surface contains a horizon saddle connection, we prove that the directions…
We consider a Morse function $f$ and a Morse-Smale gradient-like vector field $X$ on a compact connected oriented 3-manifold $M$ such that $f$ has only one critical point of index 3. Based on Laudenbach's ideas, we will show that the flow of $X$ can be isotoped into one so that the trajectory spaces of the new flow provide a stratification for $M$. We will construct "natural" tubular neighborhoods about each given trajectory space of the new flow such that these neighborhoods are stratified by open subsets of trajectory spaces that co-bound the given one. In connection with this we introduce t…
In this paper, we first develope the concept of Lyapunov graph to weighted Lyapunov graph (abbreviated as WLG) for nonsingular Morse-Smale flows (abbreviated as NMS flows) on $S^3$. WLG is quite sensitive to NMS flows on $S^3$. For instance, WLG detect the indexed links of NMS flows. Then we use WLG and some other tools to describe nonsingular Morse-Smale flows without heteroclinic trajectories connecting saddle orbits (abbreviated as depth $0$ NMS flows). It mainly contains the following several directions: \begin{enumerate} \item we use WLG to list depth $0$ NMS flows on $S^3$; \item with th…
Let $f:M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a Morse-Bott function on a finite dimensional closed smooth manifold $M$. Choosing an appropriate Riemannian metric on $M$ and Morse-Smale functions $f_j:C_j \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ on the critical submanifolds $C_j$, one can construct a Morse chain complex whose boundary operator is defined by counting cascades \cite{FraTheA}. Similar data, which also includes a parameter $ε> 0$ that scales the Morse-Smale functions $f_j$, can be used to define an explicit perturbation of the Morse-Bott function $f$ to a Morse-Smale function $h_ε:M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ \…
According to Pixton, there are Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms of the 3-sphere which have no energy function, that is a Lyapunov function whose critical points are all periodic points of the diffeomorphism. We introduce the concept of quasi-energy function for a Morse-Smale diffeomorphism as a Lyapunov function with the least number of critical points and construct a quasi-energy function for any diffeomorphism from some class of Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms on the 3-sphere.
On a smooth compact Riemannian manifold without boundary, we construct a finite dimensional cohomological complex of currents that are invariant by an Axiom A flow verifying Smale's transversality assumptions. The cohomology of that complex is isomorphic to the De Rham cohomology via certain spectral projectors. This construction is achieved by defining anisotropic Sobolev spaces adapted to the global dynamics of Axiom A flows. In the particular case of Morse-Smale gradient flows, this complex coincides with the classical Morse complex.
The Morse-Bott inequalities relate the topology of a closed manifold to the topology of the critical point set of a Morse-Bott function defined on it. The Morse-Bott inequalities are sometimes stated under incorrect orientation assumptions. We show that these assumptions are insufficient with an explicit counterexample and clarify the origin of the mistake.
We prove a lower bound on the number of maximally broken trajectories of the negative gradient flow of a Morse-Smale function on a closed aspherical manifold in terms of integral (torsion) homology.
Scharlemann and Thompson define a numerical complexity for a 3-manifold using handle decompositions of the manifold. We show that for compact hyperbolic 3-manifolds this is linearly related to a definition of metric complexity in terms of the areas of level sets of Morse functions.
Given a compact smooth manifold $M$ with non-empty boundary and a Morse function, a pseudo-gradient Morse-Smale vector field adapted to the boundary allows one to build a Morse complex whose homology is isomorphic to the (absolute or relative to the boundary) homology of $M$ with integer coefficients. Our approach simplifies other methods which have been discussed in more specific geometric settings.
The ambient framed bordism class of the connecting manifold of two consecutive critical points of a Morse-Smale function is estimated by means of a certain Hopf invariant. Applications include new examples of non-smoothable Poincare duality spaces as well as an extension of the Morse complex.
Let $M$ be a compact oriented simply-connected manifold of dimension at least 8. Assume $M$ is equipped with a torsion-free semi-free circle action with isolated fixed points. We prove $M$ has a perfect invariant Morse-Smale function. The major ingredient in the proof is a new cancellation theorem for the invariant Morse theory.
The first part of this article intends to present the role played by Thom in diffusing Smale's ideas about immersion theory, at a time (1957) where some famous mathematicians were doubtful about them: it is clearly impossible to make the sphere inside out! Around a decade later, M. Gromov transformed Smale's idea in what is now known as the h-principle. Here, the h stands for homotopy.Shortly after the astonishing discovery by Smale, Thom gave a conference in Lille (1959) announcing a theorem which would deserve to be named a homological h-principle. The aim of our second part is to comment ab…
We study the coarse geometry of the moduli space of dilation tori with two singularities and the dynamical properties of the action of the Teichmuller flow on this moduli space. This leads to a proof that the vertical foliation of a dilation torus is almost always Morse-Smale. As a corollary, we get that the generic piecewise affine circle homeomorphism with two break points -with respect to the Lebesgue measure- is Morse-Smale.
Given a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension $n$ and a Morse-Smale function, there are finitely many $n$-part broken trajectories of the negative gradient flow. We show that if the manifold admits a hyperbolic metric, then the number of $n$-part broken trajectories is always at least the hyperbolic volume. The proof combines known theorems in Morse theory with lemmas of Gromov about simplicial volumes of stratified spaces.
Motivated by the study in Morse theory and Smale's work in dynamics, the following questions are studied and answered: (1) When does a 3-manifold admit an automorphism having a knotted Smale solenoid as an attractor? (2) When does a 3-manifold admit an automorphism whose non-wandering set consists of Smale solenoids? The result presents some intrinsic symmetries for a class of 3-manifolds.
The counting function on the natural numbers defines a discrete Morse-Smale complex with a cohomology for which topological quantities like Morse indices, Betti numbers or counting functions for critical points of Morse index are explicitly given in number theoretical terms. The Euler characteristic of the Morse filtration is related to the Mertens function, the Poincaré-Hopf indices at critical points correspond to the values of the Moebius function. The Morse inequalities link number theoretical quantities like the prime counting functions relevant for the distribution of primes with cohomol…
We consider different notions of equivalence for Morse functions on the sphere in the context of persistent homology, and introduce new invariants to study these equivalence classes. These new invariants are as simple, but more discerning than existing topological invariants, such as persistence barcodes and Reeb graphs. We give a method to relate any two Morse--Smale vector fields on the sphere by a sequence of fundamental moves by considering graph-equivalent Morse functions. We also explore the combinatorially rich world of height-equivalent Morse functions, considered as height functions o…
Discrete Morse theory emerged as an essential tool for computational geometry and topology. Its core structures are discrete gradient fields, defined as acyclic matchings on a complex $C$, from which topological and geometrical informations of $C$ can be efficiently computed, in particular its homology or Morse-Smale decomposition. Given a function $f$ sampled on $C$, it is possible to derive a discrete gradient that mimics the dynamics of $f$. Many such constructions are based on some variant of a greedy pairing of adjacent cells, given an appropriate weighting. However, proving that the dyna…
Our objective is to develop a stratified Morse theory with tangential conditions. We define a continuous strata-wise smooth Morse function on an abstract stratified space by using control conditions and radiality assumptions on the gradient vector field. For critical points of a Morse function one can show that the local unstable set is a manifold and the local stable set is itself an abstract stratified space. We also give a normal form for the gradient dynamics in the neighborhood of critical points. For a stratified Morse pair which satisfies the generic Morse-Smale condition we can build t…
Along with excursions into manifolds with corners, resolution towers of Thom and Whitney stratifications, I show that for a generic gradientlike vector field on a manifold with a Morse function, the stable manifolds give a CW decomposition of the manifold. This has been done before.
This paper was motivated by work of Arnold where he explains how to count "snakes", i.e. Morse functions on the real axis with prescribed behavior at infinity. This leads immediately to a count of excellent Morse functions on the circle, where following Thom's terminology, excellent means that no two critical points lie on the same level set. We explain how to count equivalence classes of excellent Morse functions on the 2-sphere. We consider two equivalence relations. The geometric relation (two functions are equivalent if one can be obtained from the other via compositions with an orientatio…
Heegaard splittings and Heegaard diagrams of a closed 3-manifold M are translated into the language of Morse functions with Morse-Smale pseudo-gradients defined on M. We make use in a very simple setting of techniques which Jean Cerf developed for solving a famous pseudo-isotopy problem. In passing, we show how to cancel the supernumerary local extrema in a generic path of functions when dim M>2. The main tool that we introduce is an elementary swallow tail lemma which could be useful elsewhere.
Given two Morse functions $f, μ$ on a compact manifold $M$, we study the Morse homology for the Lagrange multiplier function on $M \times {\mathbb R}$ which sends $(x, η)$ to $f(x) + ημ(x)$. Take a product metric on $M \times {\mathbb R}$, and rescale its ${\mathbb R}$-component by a factor $λ^2$. We show that generically, for large $λ$, the Morse-Smale-Witten chain complex is isomorphic to the one for $f$ and the metric restricted to ${μ^{-1}(0)}$, with grading shifted by one. On the other hand, let $λ\to 0$, we obtain another chain complex, which is geometrically quite different but has the …
Scharlemann and Thompson define the width of a 3-manifold M as a notion of complexity based on the topology of M. Their original definition had the property that the adjacency relation on handles gave a linear order on handles, but here we consider a more general definition due to Saito, Scharlemann and Schultens, in which the adjacency relation on handles may give an arbitrary graph. We show that for compact hyperbolic 3-manifolds, this is linearly related to a notion of metric complexity, based on the areas of level sets of Morse functions to graphs, which we call Gromov area.
Firstly, we wish to motivate that Conley pairs, realized via Salamon's definition [17], are rather useful building blocks in geometry: Initially we met Conley pairs in an attempt to construct Morse filtrations of free loop spaces [21]. From this fell off quite naturally, firstly, an alternative proof [20] of the cell attachment theorem in Morse theory [13] and, secondly, some ideas [12] how to try to organize the closures of the unstable manifolds of a Morse-Smale gradient flow as a CW decomposition of the underlying manifold. Relaxing non-degeneracy of critical points to isolatedness we use t…
