Around the topological classification problem of polynomial maps: A survey

Abstract

The study of the topology of polynomial maps originates from classical questions in affine geometry, such as the Jacobian Conjecture, as well as from works of Whitney, Thom, and Mather in the 1950-70s on diffeomorphism types of smooth maps. During that period, Thom came up with a famous construction of a one-dimensional family of real polynomial maps all sharing the same degree, but in which every polynomial map has its unique topological type. According to his convention, the topological type of a map is preserved precisely when it is composed with homeomorphisms on both source and target spaces. Thom also conjectured that for each pair $(n,d)$, any family of $n$--variate, degree--$d$ (complex, or real) polynomial functions has at most finitely-many topological types. Soon after, a collection of results by several mathematicians throughout the 1970s and 1980s settled this conjecture, and solved its subsequent generalization to polynomial maps. In this survey, we outline the historical context and highlight a range of significant works from the 1950s to the present day that lead to the current state of the art in the study of polynomial maps' topology. The focal point of this survey is to shed some light on the ensuing classification problem of topological types of polynomial maps. The presentation is achieved by making a gentle introduction to several other prominent questions in affine geometry, all of which are recounted through the lens of this classification problem.