Incidence coefficients in the Novikov complex for Morse forms: rationality and exponential growth properties

In this paper we continue the study of generic properties of the Novikov complex, began in the work "The incidence coefficients in the Novikov complex are generically rational functions" ( dg-ga/9603006). For a Morse map $f:M\to S^1$ there is a refined version of Novikov complex, defined over the Novikov completion of the fundamental group ring. We prove that for a $C^0$ generic $f$-gradient the corresponding incidence coefficients belong to the image in the Novikov ring of a (non commutative) localization of the fundamental group ring. The Novikov construction generalizes also to the case of Morse 1-forms. In this case the corresponding incidence coefficients belong to the suitable completion of the ring of integral Laurent polynomials of several variables. We prove that for a given Morse form $\omega$ and a $C^0$ generic $\omega$-gradient these incidence coefficients are rational functions. The incidence coefficients in the Novikov complex are obtained by counting the algebraic number of the trajectories of the gradient, joining the zeros of the Morse form. There is V.I.Arnold's version of the exponential growth conjecture, which concerns the total number of trajectories. We confirm it for any given Morse form and a $C^0$ dense set of its gradients. We also give an example of explicit computation of the Novikov complex.Comment: 28 page

On the asymptotics of Morse numbers of finite covers of manifolds

Let M be a closed connected manifold. Let m(M) be the Morse number of M, that is, the minimal number of critical points of a Morse function on M. Let N be a finite cover of M of degree d. M.Gromov posed the following question: what are the asymptotic properties of m(N) as d goes to infinity? In this paper we study the case of high dimensional manifolds M with free abelian fundamental group. Let x be a non-zero element of H^1(M), let M(x) be the infinite cyclic cover corresponding to x, and t be a generator of the structure group of this cover. Set M(x,k)=M(x)/t^k. We prove that the sequence m(M(x,k))/k converges as k goes to infinity. For x outside of a finite union of hyperplanes in H^1(M) we obtain the asymptotics of m(M(x,k)) as k goes to infinity, in terms of homotopy invariants of M related to Novikov homology of M.Comment: Amslatex file, 13 pages. To be published in "Topology

Novikov homology, twisted Alexander polynomials and Thurston cones

We continue the study of the twisted Novikov homology, introduced in our joint paper with H.Goda (arXiv:math.DG/0312374), and its generalizations. The main applications of the developed algebraic techniques are to the topology of 3-manifolds. We show in particular that the twisted Novikov homology of a 3-manifold M of zero Euler characteristic vanishes if and only if the corresponding twisted Alexander polynomial of the fundamental group of M is monic. We discuss the relations between the Thurston norm on 1-cohomology of a three-dimensional manifold and the twisted Novikov homology of this manifold.Comment: 38 pages, Latex fil

C^0-generic properties of boundary operators in Novikov Complex

One of the basic objects in the Morse theory of circle-valued maps is Novikov complex - an analog of the Morse complex of Morse functions. Novikov complex is defined over the ring of Laurent power series with finite negative part. The main aim of this paper is to present a detailed and self-contained exposition of the author's theorem saying that C^0-generically the Novikov complex is defined over the ring of rational functions. The paper contains also a systematic treatment of the topics of the classical Morse theory related to Morse complexes (Chapter 2). We work with a new class of gradient-type vector fields, which includes riemannian gradients. In Ch.3 we suggest a purely Morse-theoretic (not using triangulations) construction of small handle decomposition of manifolds. In the Ch.4 we deal with the gradients of Morse functions on cobordisms. Due to the presence of critical points the descent along the trajectories of such gradient does no define in general a continuous map from the upper component of the boundary to the lower one. We show that for C^0-generic gradients there is an algebraic model of "gradient descent map". This is one of the main tools in the proof of the main theorem (Chapter 5). We give also the generalizations of the result for the versions of Novikov complex defined over completions of group rings (non commutative in general).Comment: AMSLatex file, 102 pages, 5 figure

The Incidence Coefficients in the Novikov Complex are generically rational functions

For a Morse map $f:M\to S^1$ Novikov [11] has introduced an analog of Morse complex, defined over the ring \ZZZ[[t]][t^{-1}] of integer Laurent power series. Novikov conjectured, that generically the matrix entries of the differentials in this complex are of the form $\sum_ia_it^i$, where $a_i$ grow at most exponentially in $i$. We prove that for any given $f$ for a $C^0$ generic gradient-like vector field all the incidence coefficients above are rational functions in $t$ (which implies obviously the exponential growth rate estimate).Comment: 35 page

C^0-topology in Morse theory

Let $f$ be a Morse function on a closed manifold $M$, and $v$ be a Riemannian gradient of $f$ satisfying the transversality condition. The classical construction (due to Morse, Smale, Thom, Witten), based on the counting of flow lines joining critical points of the function $f$ associates to these data the Morse complex $M_*(f,v)$. In the present paper we introduce a new class of vector fields ($f$-gradients) associated to a Morse function $f$. This class is wider than the class of Riemannian gradients and provides a natural framework for the study of the Morse complex. Our construction of the Morse complex does not use the counting of the flow lines, but rather the fundamental classes of the stable manifolds, and this allows to replace the transversality condition required in the classical setting by a weaker condition on the $f$-gradient (almost transversality condition) which is $C^0$-stable. We prove then that the Morse complex is stable with respect to $C^0$-small perturbations of the $f$-gradient, and study the functorial properties of the Morse complex. The last two sections of the paper are devoted to the properties of functoriality and $C^0$-stability for the Novikov complex $N_*(f,v)$ where $f$ is a circle-valued Morse map and $v$ is an almost transverse $f$-gradient.Comment: 22 pages, Latex file, one typo correcte

The Whitehead group of the Novikov ring

The Bass-Heller-Swan-Farrell-Hsiang-Siebenmann decomposition of the Whitehead group $K_1(A_{\rho}[z,z^{-1}])$ of a twisted Laurent polynomial extension $A_{\rho}[z,z^{-1}]$ of a ring $A$ is generalized to a decomposition of the Whitehead group $K_1(A_{\rho}((z)))$ of a twisted Novikov ring of power series $A_{\rho}((z))=A_{\rho}[[z]][z^{-1}]$. The decomposition involves a summand $W_1(A,\rho)$ which is an abelian quotient of the multiplicative group $W(A,\rho)$ of Witt vectors $1+a_1z+a_2z^2+... \in A_{\rho}[[z]]$. An example is constructed to show that in general the natural surjection $W(A,\rho)^{ab} \to W_1(A,\rho)$ is not an isomorphism.Comment: Latex file using Diagrams.tex, 36 pages. To appear in "K-theory

Simple homotopy type of the Novikov complex and Lefschetz ζ\zeta-function of the gradient flow

Let f be a Morse map from a closed manifold to a circle. S.P.Novikov constructed an analog of the Morse complex for f. The Novikov complex is a chain complex defined over the ring of Laurent power series with integral coefficients and finite negative part. This complex depends on the choice of a gradient-like vector field. The homotopy type of the Novikov complex is the same as the homotopy type of the completed complex of the simplicial chains of the cyclic covering associated to f. In the present paper we prove that for every C^0-generic f-gradient there is a homotopy equivalence between these two chain complexes, such that its torsion equals to the Lefschetz zeta-function of the gradient flow. For these gradients the Novikov complex is defined over the ring of rational functions and the Lefschetz zeta-function is also rational. The paper contains also a survey of Morse-Novikov theory and of the previous results of the author on the C^0-generic properties of the Novikov complex.Comment: Amslatex file, 54 page

The type numbers of closed geodesics

A short survey on the type numbers of closed geodesics, on applications of the Morse theory to proving the existence of closed geodesics and on the recent progress in applying variational methods to the periodic problem for Finsler and magnetic geodesicsComment: 29 pages, an appendix to the Russian translation of "The calculus of variations in the large" by M. Mors