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Moduli Spaces And Cw Structures Arising From Morse Theory, Lizhen Qin

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study the moduli spaces and CW Structures arising from Morse theory.

Suppose M is a smooth manifold and f is a Morse function on it. We consider the negative gradient flow of f. Suppose the flow satisfies transversality. This naturally defines the moduli spaces of flow lines and gives a stratication of M by its unstable manifolds. The gluing of broken flow lines can also be constructed.

We prove that, under certain assumptions, these moduli spaces can be compactified and the compactified spaces are smooth manifolds with corners. Moreover, these compactified manifolds satisfy certain orientation formulas. …