Morse theory for the Yang-Mills functional via equivariant homotopy theory

Abstract

In this paper we show the existence of non minimal critical points of the Yang-Mills functional over a certain family of 4-manifolds with generic SU(2)-invariant metrics using Morse and homotopy theoretic methods. These manifolds are acted on fixed point freely by the Lie group SU(2) with quotient a compact Riemann surface of even genus. We use a version of invariant Morse theory for the Yang-Mills functional used by Parker and by Rade.