Morse theory with homotopy coherent diagrams

Abstract

We study Morse theory on noncompact manifolds equipped with exhaustions by compact pieces, defining the Morse homology of a pair which consists of the manifold and related geometric/homotopy data. We construct a collection of Morse data parametrized by cubes of arbitrary dimensions. From this collection, we obtain a family of linear maps subject to some coherency conditions, which can be packaged into a homotopy coherent diagram. We introduce a chain complex which is a colimit for the diagram and show that it computes the Morse homology.