Questions tagged [critical-point-theory]

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How to distinguish birth and death bifurcations?

Let $f : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ have a degenerate critical point at $x = 0 \, ($ie, $f(0) = f'(0) = f''(0) = 0)$. Perturbing $f$ locally around $0$ may cause multiple scenarios: Birth: the ...
5 votes
1 answer
121 views

Regularity requirements for Sard's Theorem

The most common formulation of Sard's Theorem is that for $f\in C^{n-m+1}(\mathbb R^n, \mathbb R^m)$ with $n\ge m$, the set $f(C_f)$ has Lebesgue measure 0, where $C_f=\{x, df(x)=0\}$. Question. Is it ...
4 votes
1 answer
151 views

Gap to fill in the Aubin–Ekeland proof of the mountain-pass theorem

Working through the proof of the mountain-pass theorem given in Applied Nonlinear Analysis by Aubin & Ekeland, at what seems to be a critical point of the proof (the top of page 274) they refer to ...
1 vote
0 answers
45 views

Locality and restriction properties for self-avoiding and loop-erasing random walks

This question has been cross-posted from math.stackexchange.com : https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/4742746/locality-and-restriction-properties-for-self-avoiding-and-loop-erasing-random-wa I ...
5 votes
2 answers
469 views

Geometry of critical points of holomorphic maps in projective space

Let $f:\mathbb{CP}^n\to\mathbb{CP}^n$ be a holomorphic map; I am interested in what the subvariety of critical points could be. More specifically, let $J=\{p\in \mathbb{CP}^n\ :\ \det\mathrm{Jac}(f)=0\...
2 votes
1 answer
111 views

Morse theory for compact sets bounded by hypersurfaces in euclidian space

I am having trouble understanding precisely how some part of Morse Theory works. More precisely, take $X$ to be a compact set of $\mathbb{R}^d$ such that $\partial X$ (topological boundary) is a ...
1 vote
0 answers
77 views

Diagrams for critical points [closed]

In Hatcher, Allen; Lochak, Pierre; Schneps, Leila, On the Teichmüller tower of mapping class groups, J. Reine Angew. Math. 521, 1-24 (2000). ZBL0953.20030) pages 13 and 15 we have : for case "d&...
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45 views

configurations of three saddles on one level [duplicate]

In Hatcher, Allen; Lochak, Pierre; Schneps, Leila, On the Teichmüller tower of mapping class groups, J. Reine Angew. Math. 521, 1-24 (2000). ZBL0953.20030) page 13 we have : There are sixteen ...
2 votes
0 answers
103 views

Is a function looking like a cubic cusp globally equivalent to the cubic cusp?

Let's consider a family of smooth odd functions $\phi_v(u)\colon \mathbb{R}^2\to\mathbb{R}$, which ,looks like' a family of functions $f_y(x)=x^3-yx$ in the vicinity of $(0,0)$: $\phi_v(u)$ has no ...
1 vote
0 answers
109 views

what are definitions of born or die (birth-death point) and crossing point?

in this paper we have : A presentation for the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface.by Hatcher.W.Thurston ...(a) $f_{t_{0}}$ has exactly one degenerate critical point, of the form $f_{t}(...
1 vote
1 answer
159 views

Definition of Euler-Lagrange equation and properties, where can I find?

I'm studying a paper and in the introduction appears the following: It is well known that existence of critical points and solvability of Euler-Lagrange equations are related, and there is and ...
2 votes
0 answers
106 views

Critical points of the area functional restricted to CMC embeddings

For fixed closed smooth manifolds $M^n$ and $N^{n+1}$, two $C^{k,\alpha}$ embeddings $f, f' : M \to N$ are said to be equivalent if there exists $\varphi \in \operatorname{Diff}(M)$ such that $f' = f \...
6 votes
0 answers
210 views

Optimal configurations on the flat torus

I'm studying (with my colleagues R.Piergallini and S.Isola) configurations of points on the flat torus which minimize an attractive or repulsive potential depending on the distance. Two model cases ...
3 votes
1 answer
304 views

Number of critical points of sum of two functions

I ran into the following "simple" question and I am wondering whether there are any references, which might help me. I am coming from statistics, so I am not so aware which branch of math ...
1 vote
0 answers
72 views

Is there a flaw in this proof of the validity of the Palais-Smale condition?

In Chapter 3 of his monograph (available on Researchgate), Kavian applies the Mountain Pass Theorem to a semilinear elliptic equation. To this aim, he needs to check that a functional satisfies the ...
10 votes
2 answers
694 views

Gauss--Lucas type theorem for tracts and higher derivatives of a polynomial

The Gauss--Lucas Theorem states that all zeros of derivative of a degree $n$ complex polynomial $p(z)$ are contained in the convex hull of the zeros of $p$. By iteration, this implies that the zeros ...
4 votes
1 answer
460 views

Minimizing sequence $\implies$ Palais–Smale sequence

Set $F:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ a $C^2$-function that is bounded from below. Set $x_n$ a minimizing sequence, i.e., $F(x_n)\to \alpha = \inf F$. I want to prove that under the assumption of ...
2 votes
0 answers
111 views

Laplacian variational problem with asymptotically quadratic term

Consider the functional $$J= \int_\Omega |\nabla u|^2 - \int_\Omega F(u),$$ where $\Omega$ is a bounded smooth domain. The problem has been solved for example if $F$ is (1) subquadratic, or (2) ...
2 votes
0 answers
62 views

Differences among various index theories in critical point theory

Index theories help characterize critical points of functionals having certain symmetries. What are the differences (regarding problems they can be applied to) between for example these ones? the ...
0 votes
0 answers
119 views

Generalized Sard's lemma

Let $f: X \to \mathbb{R}$ be a $C^{1,1}$ (that is $C^1$ with Lipschitz differential) function on a manifold $X$. Suppose that $f$ is smooth at all points of a subset $C \subset \text{Crit}f$ of ...
40 votes
3 answers
3k views

Height function on 2-torus with only 3 critical points

It is well-known that a Morse function on $T^2$ has at least $4$ critical points, but also that there exist functions $f\colon T^2\to\mathbb R$ with only 3 critical points (the least possible number ...
5 votes
0 answers
283 views

Pullback of Morse form satisfies Palais Smale

Let $(\alpha,g)$ be a Morse-Smale pair on a closed smooth manifold $M$, i.e. $\alpha$ is a Morse form and $g$ a Riemannian metric on $M$ such that stable and unstable manifolds of the gradient vector ...
5 votes
0 answers
122 views

Is there an upper bound on the number of critical points of a spherical harmonic on a local scale?

Take a spherical harmonic $y_d$ of degree $d$ on the sphere $\mathbb{S}^2$ and a spherical disk of radius $\frac{1}{d^2}$ centered at any point (let's say the north pole). Is there an upper bound, ...
21 votes
0 answers
2k views

Characterising critical points of $E(f)=\int_{M}| \bigwedge^2 df|^2 \text{Vol}_{M}$

$\newcommand{\id}{\operatorname{Id}}$ $\newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}}$ $\newcommand{\TM}{\operatorname{TM}}$ $\newcommand{\Hom}{\operatorname{Hom}}$ $\newcommand{\Cof}{\operatorname{Cof}}$ $\newcommand{\...
3 votes
1 answer
259 views

Smoothing a periodic function of two variables

Let $F \colon \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}^n$ be a $C^{1}$-function 1-periodic in each variable, so it can be considered as a function on the flat torus $\mathbb{T}^2 = \mathbb{R}^2 / \mathbb{Z}^2$. We ...
8 votes
2 answers
668 views

Critical values of analytic functions of several variables

Let $f:\mathbb{R}^d\to \mathbb{R}$ be real analytic. Define $S=\{x\in\mathbb{R}^d, \nabla f (x)=0\} $. Is it true that for any compact set $K\subset \mathbb{R}^d$, $f(S\cap K)$ is a finite set ?
2 votes
1 answer
301 views

Bijection of critical points on two manifolds

Suppose that $f$ and $g$ are two smooth functions defined on $R^n$. Assume that $(a-\epsilon, b+\epsilon)$ contains no critical point of $g$. Then $g^{-1}[a,b]$ it homomorphic to $g^{-1}(a)\times [a,b]...
2 votes
2 answers
670 views

Proving the non-degeneracy of the critical points of the potential function for a certain vector field with $ n $ point-singularities

This question is an expansion of another question that I asked over at Math Stack Exchange. In what follows, $ \alpha \in \mathbb{R}_{> 1} $ is a constant, $ n $ a fixed integer $ \geq 2 $, and $ [...
3 votes
2 answers
288 views

Finding the critical points of a degree $5$ Blaschke product

The derivative of a degree $5$ polynomial $p\in\mathbb{C}[z]$ is a degree four polynomial $p'\in\mathbb{C}[z]$, and as such, the zeros of $p'$ may be found explicitly using the quartic formulae. One ...
3 votes
1 answer
212 views

C^1 fractals in statistical mechanics

It is well-known--even famous--that the Schramm-Loewner curves appear as domain boundaries between phases at second-order critical points like the critical Ising model or percolation in two dimensions....
2 votes
1 answer
326 views

Polynomial with subset of critical points and values prescribed

Motivated by this question I wish to pose the following question: Given $k$ points $(x_1, y_1), \ldots (x_k, y_k)$ with (WLOG) $x_i < x_{i+1}$, can we find a polynomial $p(x)\in\Bbb R[x]$ ...
0 votes
1 answer
164 views

Applying min-max to find a critical point in a ball

Let $\mathbb B^n$ be an open unit ball in $\mathbb R^n$ and let $F$ be a smooth function on it. Let $\frac{1}{2}\mathbb B^n\subset \mathbb B^n$ be an open ball or radius $\frac{1}{2}$. Let $\mathbb B^...
0 votes
0 answers
121 views

When is a critical value of a map contained in the interior of the image?

Let $M^n$ be a compact manifold, and $F\colon M \to \mathbb{R}^n$ a smooth map. The inverse function theorem implies that every regular value of $F$ lies in the interior of $F(M)$, hence every point ...
2 votes
0 answers
283 views

Measure of the Attractor of Critical Points of a Manifold

Let $f: \mathbb{R}^d \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a smooth function and consider the $d$-manifold $M = \{(x, f(x)): x \in \mathbb{R}^d\} \subset \mathbb{R}^{d+1}$. Let $P$ be a property of some subset ...
3 votes
0 answers
127 views

Existence of at least one positive solution for semilinear biharmonic equation with critical exponent

Let $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^N$, $N\geq 5$. Now assume the biharmonic problem with singular term as follow \begin{cases} ‎\Delta^2u=‎‎\lambda ‎‎\dfrac{u}{|x|^4}‎‎+u^{‎p}‎ & \mathrm{in}‎\hspace{...
1 vote
0 answers
74 views

Estimation of the number of local extrema

I have a question about a simple proposition, I suppose that this is something well-known or a special case of something well-known: Let $D\subset\mathbb{R}^{2}$ be the closed unit disk in the plane ...
2 votes
1 answer
601 views

Lusternik-Schnirelmann Theorem

In various paper i found this: But i don't find this theorem of Lusternik-Schnirelmann, have you an idea where i can find this theorem, the condition? Thank you.
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Set of critical values is compact [closed]

Let $M\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ be a compact manifold with $\partial M=\emptyset$ and let $f: M\rightarrow S^p$ be a smooth map. I want to unerstand the proof of the following lemma which occurs in ...
3 votes
1 answer
337 views

Does this squared distance functional have a unique critical point on geodesically convex manifolds?

Let $M$ be a Riemannian manifold with distance function $d$, $C \subset M$ a geodesically convex set, $a=(a_i)_{i=1}^n \in C^n$, $W \in \mathbb{R}_{\geq 0}^{n \times n}$ and $J\colon C^n \rightarrow \...
2 votes
0 answers
214 views

Tubular neighborhoods in the proof of the Morse homology theorem

I have a question regarding the proof of the Morse homology theorem given by D. Salamon in "Morse theory, the Conley index and Floer homology". The full text can be found here: http://www.mtm.ufsc.br/...
0 votes
0 answers
158 views

Categorizing saddle points of real multivariate polynomials

I have a multivariate polynomial function of N variables $f(x_1,x_2,…,x_N) = x_1 x_2 x_3 .. x_N \left( 1 + \sum_i^N (a_i x_i^2 - x_i) \right)$, where $a_i > 0$ are real positive numbers. By ...
5 votes
1 answer
641 views

Failure of Palais-Smale Condition C and the Mini-Max Principle

To get a thorough analysis of the critical point structure of a smooth function $f:M\to\mathbb{R}$ on a smooth Hilbert manifold $M$, a compactness assumption gets us far. That assumption is Condition ...
0 votes
1 answer
145 views

Continuity of critical points with respect to a parameterisation.

Hello. I have a research note coming out soon, and I'm stuck showing that a weird kind of function is continuous. I need to it show a new method of bounding exponential growth factors in ...
3 votes
0 answers
334 views

What is the analog of "monotonic" for scalar functions on surfaces?

"monotonic" is well defined for functions $f(x)$, where e.g. $x\in[0,1]$ and $f(x)\in\mathbb{R}$. The quality I particularly care about is that if $f(x)$ is monotonic then it will not have any local ...
1 vote
1 answer
879 views

How to explain the condition (C) in critical point theory?

Condition (C). The closure of any nonempty subset S of H on which f is bounded but on which $\|\nabla f\|$is not bounded away from zero, contains a critical point of f. How to see the meaning of " $\|\...
1 vote
1 answer
232 views

Critical points in Hilbert space [closed]

Let $f$ be a $C^1$ functional on a Hilbert space $X$, and $Y$ a closed subspace of $X$. Suppose the restriction of $f$ on $Y$ has a critical point $x_0 \in Y$. Q: Is $x_0$ a critical point of $f$?
4 votes
1 answer
849 views

Do the focal points of a submanifold $M$ in $\mathbb{R}^k$ form a closed subset?

Let $M$ be a submanifold in an euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^k$, and $\nu(M)$ the normal bundle to $M$, let us denote $\phi$ the restriction to $\nu(M)$ of the exponential map for $\mathbb{R}^k$. A ...