Critical points and surjectivity of smooth maps

Abstract

Let $f:M^m\to N^n$ be a smooth map between two differential manifolds with $N$ connected, $f(M)$ closed and $f(M)\neq N$. In this short note, we show that either all the points of $M$ are critical points of $f$ or the dimension the collection of all critical points of $f$ is not less than $n-1$. Some consequences of this result for surjectivity of mappings are also presented.