Residual intersection theory with reducible schemes

Abstract

We develop a formula (Theorem 5.1) which allows to compute top Chern classes of vector bundles on the vanishing locus $V(s)$ of a section of this bundle. This formula particularly applies in the case when $V(s)$ is the union of locally complete intersections giving the individual contribution of each component and their mutual intersections. We conclude with applications to the enumeration of rational curves in complete intersections in projective space.