On the number of cusps of deformations of complex polynomials

Abstract

Let f be a 1-variable complex polynomial such that f has a singularity at the origin. In the present paper, we show that there exists a deformation of f which has only fold singularities and cusps as singularities of a real polynomial map from the plane to the plane. We then calculate the number of cusps of a deformation in a sufficiently small neighborhood of the origin.