Equivariant Cerf theory and perturbative $SU(n)$ Casson invariants

Abstract

We develop an equivariant Cerf theory for Morse functions on finite-dimensional manifolds with group actions, and adapt the technique to the infinite-dimensional setting to study the moduli space of perturbed flat $SU(n)$-connections. As a consequence, we prove the existence of perturbative $SU(n)$ Casson invariants on integer homology spheres for all $n\ge 3$, and write down an explicit formula when $n=4$. This generalizes the previous works of Boden and Herald.