In this paper, we give the generic classification of the singularities of 3-parameter line congruences in $\mathbb {R}^{4}$. We also classify the generic singularities of normal and Blaschke (affine) normal congruences.

In order to investigate envelopes for singular surfaces, we introduce one- and two-parameter families of framed surfaces and the basic invariants, respectively. By using the basic invariants, the existence and uniqueness theorems of one- and two-parameter families of framed surfaces are given. Then we define envelopes of one- and two-parameter families of framed surfaces and give the existence conditions of envelopes which are called envelope theorems. As an application of the envelope theorems, we show that the projections of singular solutions of completely integrable first-order partial differential equations are envelopes.

We obtain a new theorem for the non-properness set $S_f$ of a non-singular polynomial mapping $f:\mathbb C^n \to \mathbb C^n$. In particular, our result shows that if f is a counterexample to the Jacobian conjecture, then $S_f\cap Z \neq \emptyset $, for every hypersurface Z dominated by $\mathbb C^{n-1}$ on which some non-singular polynomial $h: \mathbb C^{n}\to \mathbb C$ is constant. Also, we present topological approaches to the Jacobian conjecture in $\mathbb C^n$. As applications, we extend bidimensional results of Rabier, Lê and Weber to higher dimensions.

We consider a smooth curve with singular points in the Euclidean space. As a smooth curve with singular points, we have introduced a framed curve or a framed immersion. A framed immersion is a smooth curve with a moving frame and the pair is an immersion. We define an evolute and a focal surface of a framed immersion in the Euclidean space. The evolutes and focal surfaces of framed immersions are generalizations of each object of regular space curves. We give relationships between singularities of the evolutes and of the focal surfaces. Moreover, we consider properties of the evolutes, focal surfaces and repeated evolutes.

We characterise singularities of focal surfaces of wave fronts in terms of differential geometric properties of the initial wave fronts. Moreover, we study relationships between geometric properties of focal surfaces and geometric invariants of the initial wave fronts.

As an application of the theory of graph-like Legendrian unfoldings, relations of the hidden structures of caustics, and wave front propagations are revealed.

We study the Minkowski symmetry set of a closed smooth curve γ in the Minkowski plane. We answer the following question, which is analogous to one concerning curves in the Euclidean plane that was treated by Giblin and O’Shea (1990): given a point p on γ, does there exist a bi-tangent pseudo-circle that is tangent to γ both at p and at some other point q on γ? The answer is yes, but as pseudo-circles with non-zero radii have two branches (connected components) it is possible to refine the above question to the following one: given a point p on γ, does there exist a branch of a pseudo-circle that is tangent to γ both at p and at some other point q on γ? This question is motivated by the earlier quest of Reeve and Tari (2014) to define the Minkowski Blum medial axis, a counterpart of the Blum medial axis of curves in the Euclidean plane.

We give a normal form of the cuspidal edge that uses only diffeomorphisms on the source and isometries on the target. Using this normal form, we study differential geometric invariants of cuspidal edges that determine them up to order three. We also clarify relations between these invariants.

The paper is an addendum to D. Andrica and L. Funar, ‘On smooth maps with finitely many critical points’, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 69 (2004) 783–800.

Regular homotopy classes of immersions of homotopy $n$-spheres into $(n+q)$-space form an Abelian group under connected summation. The subgroup of immersions of those homotopy spheres which bound parallelizable manifolds is computed for $n=4k-1$ and arbitrary codimension $q$. A consequence of this computation is that in codimensions $q<2k+1$, the group of immersed homotopy $(4k-1)$-spheres is not the direct sum of the group of immersed standard spheres and the group of homotopy spheres. Also, our results shed light on Brieskorn's famous equations: for any exotic sphere (bounding a parallelizable manifold), a countable number of distinct equations give rise to codimension-two embeddings of this exotic sphere. It follows from our results that these embeddings lie in pairwise distinct regular homotopy classes, and that any regular homotopy class containing embeddings is representable by a map arising from such an equation.

We study some global aspects of differential complex 2-forms and 3-forms on complex manifolds. We compute the cohomology classes represented by the sets of points on a manifold where such a form degenerates in various senses, together with other similar cohomological obstructions. Based on these results and a formula for projective representations, we calculate the degree of the projectivization of certain orbits of the representation ${{\Lambda }^{k}}{{\mathbb{C}}^{n}}$

Two locally generic maps $f, g \colon M^n \to \mathbb{R}^{2n - 1}$ are regularly homotopic if they lie in the same path-component of the space of locally generic maps. Our main result is that if $n \neq 3$ and $M^n$ is a closed $n$-manifold then the regular homotopy class of every locally generic map $f \colon M^n \to \mathbb{R}^{2n - 1}$ is completely determined by the number of its singular points provided that $f$ is singular (that is, $f$ is not an immersion).

The center symmetry set (CSS) of a smooth hypersurface $S$ in an affine space $\mathbf{R}^n$ is the envelope of lines joining pairs of points where $S$ has parallel tangent hyperplanes. The idea stems from a definition of Janeczko, in an alternative version due to Giblin and Holtom. For $n = 2$ the envelope is always real, while for $n \ge 3$ the existence of a real envelope depends on the geometry of the hypersurface. In this paper we make a local study of the CSS, some results applying to $n \le 5$ and others to the cases $n = 2,3$. The method is to construct a generating function whose bifurcation set contains the CSS and possibly some other redundant components. Focal sets of smooth hypersurfaces are a special case of the construction, but the CSS is an affine and not a euclidean invariant. Besides the familiar local forms of focal sets there are other local forms corresponding to boundary singularities, and yet others which do not appear to have arisen elsewhere in a geometrical context. There are connections with Finsler geometry. This paper concentrates on the theory and the proof of the local normal forms for the CSS.

The minimum number of critical points of a small codimension smooth map between two manifolds is computed. Some partial results for the case of higher codimension when the manifolds are spheres are also given.