Existence of common zeros for commuting vector fields on $3$-manifolds

Abstract

In $64$ E. Lima proved that commuting vector fields on surfaces with non-zero Euler characteristic have common zeros. Such statement is empty in dimension $3$, since all the Euler characteristics vanish. Nevertheless, \cite{Bonatti_analiticos} proposed a local version, replacing the Euler characteristic by the Poincar\'e-Hopf index of a vector field $X$ in a region $U$, denoted by $\operatorname{Ind}(X,U)$; he asked: \emph{Given commuting vector fields $X,Y$ and a region $U$ where $\operatorname{Ind}(X,U)\neq 0$, does $U$ contain a common zero of $X$ and $Y$?} \cite{Bonatti_analiticos} gave a positive answer in the case where $X$ and $Y$ are real analytic. In this paper, we prove the existence of common zeros for commuting $C^1$ vector fields $X$, $Y$ on a $3$-manifold, in any region $U$ such that $\operatorname{Ind}(X,U)\neq 0$, assuming that the set of collinearity of $X$ and $Y$ is contained in a smooth surface. This is a strong indication that the results in \cite{Bonatti_analiticos} should hold for $C^1$-vector fields.