Local multiplicity of continuous maps between manifolds

TL;DR

This paper investigates conditions under which continuous maps between manifolds have multiple points arbitrarily close together, using characteristic classes to establish criteria for local multiplicity.

Contribution

It introduces new criteria based on Stiefel--Whitney and Chern classes for the existence of local k-multiplicities in continuous maps between manifolds.

Findings

Derived criteria for local k-multiplicity using characteristic classes.

Showed that certain non-zero characteristic classes imply the existence of local multiple points.

Recovered classical immersion non-existence criteria as a special case.

Abstract

Let $M$ and $N$ be smooth (real or complex) manifolds, and let $M$ be equipped with some Riemannian metric. A continuous map $f\colon M\longrightarrow N$ admits a local $k$-multiplicity if, for every real number $\omega >0$, there exist $k$ pairwise distinct points $x_1,\ldots,x_k$ in $M$ such that $f(x_1)=\cdots=f(x_k)$ and $\diam\{x_1,\ldots,x_k\}<\omega$. In this paper we systematically study the existence of local $k$-mutiplicities and derive criteria for the existence of local $k$-multiplicity in terms of Stiefel--Whitney classes and Chern classes of the vector bundle $f^*\tau N\oplus(-\tau M)$. For example, as a corollary of one criterion we deduce that for $k\geq 2$ a power of $2$, $M$ a compact smooth manifold with the integer $s:=\max\{\ell : \bar{w}_{\ell}(M)\neq 0\}$, and $N$ a parallelizable smooth manifold, if $s\geq \dim N-\dim M+1$ and $\bar{w}_{s}(M)^{k-1}\neq 0$, any continuous map $M\longrightarrow N$ admits a local $k$-multiplicity. Furthermore, as a special case of this corollary we recover, when $k=2$, the classical criterion for the non-existence of an immersion $M\looparrowright N$ between manifolds $M$ and $N$.