Singular Riemannian flows and characteristic numbers

Abstract

Let $M$ be an even-dimensional, oriented closed manifold. We show that the restriction of a singular Riemannian flow on $M$ to a small tubular neighborhood of each connected component of its singular stratum is foliated-diffeomorphic to an isometric flow on the same neighborhood. We then prove a formula that computes characteristic numbers of $M$ as the sum of residues associated to the infinitesimal foliation at the components of the singular stratum of the flow.