English

Smooth functions that split a Klein bottle into two M\"obius bands

Geometric Topology 2025-08-28 v1 Algebraic Topology Differential Geometry

Abstract

Given a compact surface MM, consider the right action C(M)×D(M)C(M)\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M)\times\mathcal{D}(M)\to\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M), (f,h)fh(f, h) \mapsto f\circ h, of the group D(M)\mathcal{D}(M) of C\mathcal{C}^{\infty} diffeomorphisms of MM on the space C(M)\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) of C\mathcal{C}^{\infty} functions on MM. For fC(M)f\in\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) denote by O(f)\mathcal{O}(f) its orbit, and by Of(f)\mathcal{O}_f(f) the path component of O(f)\mathcal{O}(f) containing ff. The paper continues a series of computations by many authors of homotopy types of orbits Of(f)\mathcal{O}_f(f) of smooth functions on compact surfaces. We provide here the computations of Of(f)\mathcal{O}_f(f) for a special class of functions fC(K)f\in\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(K) on the Klein bottle KK having the following properties: (i) at each critical point ff is smoothly equivalent to some homogeneous polynomial (e.g. ff is Morse), and (ii) there is a regular connected component α\alpha of a level set of ff such that KαK\setminus\alpha is a disjoint union of two open M\"obius bands, with closures M1M_1 and M2M_2. Let fi=fMif_i = f|_{M_i} be the restriction of ff to the M\"{o}bius band MiM_i, i=1,2i=1,2, and Ofi(fi)\mathcal{O}_{f_i}(f_i) be the path component of fif_i in its orbit with respect to the above action of D(Mi)\mathcal{D}(M_i). The possible homotopy types of Ofi(fi)\mathcal{O}_{f_i}(f_i) are explicitly computed earlier. We prove that Of(f)\mathcal{O}_f(f) is homotopy equivalent to Of1(f1)×Of2(f2)\mathcal{O}_{f_1}(f_1) \times \mathcal{O}_{f_2}(f_2).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.19636,
  title  = {Smooth functions that split a Klein bottle into two M\"obius bands},
  author = {Bohdan Mazhar and Sergiy Maksymenko},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.19636},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

23 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:07:58.947Z