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# Floer homology and the heat flow

## 1 Introduction

Let $`M`$ be a closed Riemannian manifold and denote by $`M`$ the free loop space. Consider the classical action functional

$$𝒮_V(x)=_0^1\left(\frac{1}{2}|\dot{x}(t)|^2V(t,x(t))\right)𝑑t$$

for $`x:S^1M`$. Here and throughout we identify $`S^1=/`$ and think of $`xC^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,M)`$ as a smooth function $`x:M`$ which satisfies $`x(t+1)=x(t)`$. The potential is a smooth function $`V:S^1\times M`$ and we write $`V_t(x):=V(t,x)`$. The critical points of $`𝒮_V`$ are the $`1`$-periodic solutions of the ODE

$${}_{t}{}^{}\dot{x}=V_t(x),$$
(1)
where $`V_t`$ denotes the gradient and $`{}_{t}{}^{}\dot{x}`$ denotes the Levi-Civita connection. Let $`𝒫=𝒫(V)`$ denote the set of $`1`$-periodic solutions $`x:S^1M`$ of (1). In the case $`V=0`$ these are the closed geodesics. Via the Legendre transformation the solutions of (1) can also be interpreted as the critical points of the symplectic action $`𝒜_V:T^{}M`$ given by

$$𝒜_V(z)=_0^1\left(y(t),\dot{x}(t)H(t,x(t),y(t))\right)𝑑t$$

where $`z=(x,y):S^1T^{}M`$ and the Hamiltonian $`H=H_V:S^1\times T^{}M`$ is given by

$$H(t,x,y)=\frac{1}{2}|y|^2+V(t,x)$$
(2)
for $`yT_x^{}M`$. A loop $`z(t)=(x(t),y(t))`$ in $`T^{}M`$ is a critical point of $`𝒜_V`$ iff $`x`$ is a solution of (1) and $`y(t)T_{x(t)}^{}M`$ is related to $`\dot{x}(t)T_{x(t)}M`$ via the isomorphism $`TMT^{}M`$ induced by the Riemannian metric. For such loops $`z`$ the symplectic action $`𝒜_V(z)`$ agrees with the classical action $`𝒮_V(x)`$.

The negative $`L^2`$ gradient flow of the classical action gives rise to a Morse-Witten complex which computes the homology of the loop space. For a regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_V`$ we shall denote by $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)`$ the homology of the Morse-Witten complex of the functional $`𝒮_V`$ corresponding to the solutions of (1) with $`𝒮_V(x)a`$. Here we assume that $`𝒮_V`$ is a Morse function and its gradient flow satisfies the Morse-Smale condition (i.e. the stable and unstable manifolds intersect transversally, see  for the unstable manifold). As in the finite dimensional case one can show that the Morse-Witten homology $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)`$ is naturally isomorphic to the singular homology of the sublevel set

$$^aM=\left\{xM\right|𝒮_V(x)a\}.$$

On the other hand one can use the $`L^2`$ gradient flow of $`𝒜_V`$ to construct Floer homology groups $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)`$. Our main result is the following.

###### Theorem 1.1.

Asssume $`𝒮_V`$ is Morse and $`a`$ is either a regular value of $`𝒮_V`$ or is equal to infinity. Then there is a natural isomorphism

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;R)\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V;R)$$

for every principal ideal domain $`R`$. If $`M`$ is not simply connected then there is a separate isomorphism for each component of the loop space. The isomorphism commutes with the homomorphisms $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)\mathrm{HF}_{}^b(T^{}M,H_V)`$ and $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)\mathrm{HM}_{}^b(M,𝒮_V)`$ for $`a<b`$.

###### Corollary 1.2.

Let $`𝒮_V`$ and $`a`$ be as in Theorem 1.1. Then there is a natural isomorphism

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;R)\mathrm{H}_{}(^aM;R)$$

for every principal ideal domain $`R`$. If $`M`$ is not simply connected then there is a separate isomorphism for each component of the loop space. The isomorphism commutes with the homomorphisms $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)\mathrm{HF}_{}^b(T^{}M,H_V)`$ and $`\mathrm{H}_{}(^aM)\mathrm{H}_{}(^bM)`$ for $`a<b`$.

###### Proof.

Theorem 1.1 and Theorem A.7

Both the Morse-Witten homology $`HM_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)`$ and the Floer homology $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)`$ are based on the same chain complex $`C_{}^a`$ which is generated by the solutions of (1) and graded by the Morse index (as critical points of $`𝒮_V`$). In  it is shown that this Morse index agrees, up to a universal additive constant zero or one, with minus the Conley-Zehnder index. Thus it remains to compare the boundary operators and this will be done by considering an adiabatic limit with a family of metrics on $`T^{}M`$ which scales the vertical part down to zero. Another approach to Corollary 1.2 is contained in Viterbo’s paper . Some recent applications of Corollary 1.2 can be found in ; these applications require the statement with action windows and fixed homotopy classes of loops.

### The Floer chain complex and its adiabatic limit

We assume throughout that $`𝒮_V`$ is a Morse function on the loop space, i.e. that the $`1`$-periodic solutions of (1) are all nondegenerate. (For a proof that this holds for a generic potential $`V`$ see .) Under this assumption the set

$$𝒫^a(V):=\left\{x𝒫(V)\right|𝒮_V(x)a\}$$

is finite for every real number $`a`$. Moreover, each critical point $`x𝒫(V)`$ has well defined stable and unstable manifolds with respect to the (negative) $`L^2`$ gradient flow (see for example Davies ). Call $`𝒮_V`$ Morse–Smale if it is a Morse function and the unstable manifold $`W^u(y)`$ intersects the stable manifold $`W^s(x)`$ transversally for any two critical points $`x,y𝒫(V)`$.

Assume $`𝒮_V`$ is a Morse function and consider the $``$-module

$$C^a=C^a(V)=\underset{x𝒫^a(V)}{}x.$$

If $`𝒮_V`$ and $`𝒜_V`$ are Morse–Smale then this module carries two boundary operators. The first is defined by counting the (negative) gradient flow lines of $`𝒮_V`$. They are solutions $`u:\times S^1M`$ of the heat equation

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}uV_t(u)=0$$
(3)
satisfying

$$\underset{s\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}u(s,t)=x^\pm (t),\underset{s\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}_su=0,$$
(4)
where $`x^\pm 𝒫(V)`$. The limits are uniform in $`t`$. The space of solutions of (3) and (4) will be denoted by $`^0(x^{},x^+;V)`$. The Morse–Smale hypothesis guarantees that, for every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(V)`$, the space $`^0(x^{},x^+;V)`$ is a smooth manifold whose dimension is equal to the difference of the Morse indices. In the case of Morse index difference one it follows that the quotient $`^0(x^{},x^+;V)/`$ by the (free) time shift action is a finite set. Counting the number of solutions with appropriate signs gives rise to a boundary operator on $`C^a(V)`$. The homology $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)`$ of the resulting chain complex is naturally isomorphic to the singular homology of the loop space for every regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_V`$:

$$\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)\mathrm{H}_{}(^aM;),^aM:=\left\{xM\right|𝒮_V(x)a\}.$$

The details of this isomorphism will be established in a separate paper (see Appendix A for a summary of the relevant results).

The second boundary operator is defined by counting the negative gradient flow lines of the symplectic action functional $`𝒜_V`$. These are the solutions $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ of the Floer equations

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}vV_t(u)=0,{}_{s}{}^{}v+_tuv=0,$$
(5)
$$\underset{s\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}u(s,t)=x^\pm (t),\underset{s\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}v(s,t)=\dot{x}^\pm (t).$$
(6)
Here we also assume that $`_su`$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ converge to zero, uniformly in $`t`$, as $`|s|`$ tends to infinity. For notational simplicity we identify the tangent and cotangent bundles of $`M`$ via the metric. Counting the index-$`1`$ solutions of (5) and (6) with appropriate signs we obtain the Floer boundary operator. We wish to prove that the resulting Floer homology groups $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)`$ are naturally isomorphic to $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_V)`$. To construct this isomorphism we modify equation (5) by introducing a small parameter $`\epsilon `$ as follows

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}vV(t,u)=0,{}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^2(_tuv)=0.$$
(7)
The space of solutions of (7) and (6) will be denoted by $`^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;V)`$. The Floer homology groups for different values of $`\epsilon `$ are isomorphic (see Remark 1.3 below). Thus the task at hand is to prove that, for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the solutions of (3) and those of (7). A first indication, why one might expect such a correspondence, is the energy identity

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill E^\epsilon (u,v)& =\frac{1}{2}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1\left(|_su|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}v+V_t(u)|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|_tuv|^2\right)\hfill \\ & =𝒮_V(x^{})𝒮_V(x^+)\hfill \end{array}$$

for the solutions of (7) and (6). It shows that $`_tuv`$ must converge to zero in the $`L^2`$ norm as $`\epsilon `$ tends to zero. If $`_tu=v`$ then the first equation in (7) is equivalent to (3).

###### Remark 1.3.

Let $`M`$ be a Riemannian manifold. Then the tangent space of the cotangent bundle $`T^{}M`$ at a point $`(x,y)`$ with $`yT_x^{}M`$ can be identified with the direct sum $`T_xMT_x^{}M`$. The isomorphism takes the derivative $`\dot{z}(t)`$ of a curve $`T^{}M:tz(t)=(x(t),y(t))`$ to the pair $`(\dot{x}(t),{}_{t}{}^{}y(t))`$. With this identification the almost complex structure $`J_\epsilon `$ and the metric $`G_\epsilon `$ on $`T^{}M`$, given by

$$J_\epsilon =\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \epsilon g^1\\ \epsilon ^1g& 0\end{array}\right),G_\epsilon =\left(\begin{array}{cc}\epsilon ^1g& 0\\ 0& \epsilon g^1\end{array}\right),$$

are compatible with the standard symplectic form $`\omega `$ on $`T^{}M`$. Here we denote by $`g:TMT^{}M`$ the isomorphism induced by the metric. The case $`\epsilon =1`$ corresponds to the standard almost complex structure. The Floer equations for the almost complex structure $`J_\epsilon `$ and the Hamiltonian (2) are

$$_swJ_\epsilon (w)(_twX_{H_t}(w))=0.$$

If we write $`w(s,t)=(u(s,t),v(s,t))`$ with $`v(s,t)T_{u(s,t)}^{}M`$ then this equation has the form

$$_su\epsilon g^1{}_{t}{}^{}v\epsilon V_t(u)=0,{}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^1g_tu\epsilon ^1v=0.$$
(8)
A function $`w=(u,v)`$ is a solution of (8) if and only if the functions $`\stackrel{~}{u}(s,t):=u(\epsilon ^1s,t)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{v}(s,t):=g^1v(\epsilon ^1s,t)`$ satisfy (7). In view of this discussion it follows from the Floer homotopy argument that the Floer homology defined with the solutions of (7) is independent of the choice of $`\epsilon >0`$.

Assume $`𝒮_V`$ is Morse–Smale. Then we shall prove that, for every $`a`$, there exists an $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that, for $`0<\epsilon <\epsilon _0`$ and every pair $`x^+,x^{}𝒫^a(V)`$ with Morse index difference one, there is a natural bijective correspondence between the (shift equivalence classes of) solutions of (3), (4) and those of (7), (6). This will follow from Theorems 4.1 and 10.1 below.

It is an open question if the function $`𝒮_V`$ is Morse–Smale (with respect to the $`L^2`$ metric on the loop space) for a generic potential $`V`$. However, it is easy to establish transversality for a general class of abstract perturbations $`𝒱:M`$ (see Section 2). We shall use these perturbations to prove Theorem 1.1 in general.

The general outline of the proof is similar to that of the Atiyah–Floer conjecture in  which compares two elliptic PDEs via an adiabatic limit argument. By contrast our adiabatic limit theorem compares elliptic with parabolic equations. This leads to new features in the analysis that are related to the fact that the parabolic equation requires different scaling in space and time directions.

The present paper is organized as follows. The next section introduces a relevant class of abstract perturbations $`𝒱:M`$. Section 3 explains the relevant linearized operators and states the estimates for the right inverse. These are proved in Appendices C and D. In Section 4 we construct a map $`𝒯^\epsilon :^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ which assigns to every parabolic cylinder of index one a nearby Floer connecting orbit for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small. The existence of this map was established in the thesis of the second author , where the results of Section 3, Section 4, and Appendix D were proved. Sections 5, 6, and 7 are of preparatory nature and establish uniform estimates for the solutions of (7). Section 8 deals with exponential decay, Section 9 establishes local surjectivity of the map $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ by a time-shift argument, and in Section 10 we prove that $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ is bijective. Things are put together in Section 11 where we compare orientations and prove Theorem 1.1. Appendix A summarizes some results about the heat flow (3) which will be proved in . In Appendix B we prove several mean value inequalities that play a central role in our apriori estimates of Sections 5, 6, and 7.

## 2 Perturbations

In this section we introduce a class of perturbations of equations (3) and (7) for which transversality is easy to achieve. The perturbations take the form of smooth maps $`𝒱:M.`$ For $`xM`$ let $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$ denote the $`L^2`$-gradient of $`𝒱`$; it is defined by

$$_0^1\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u),_su𝑑t:=\frac{d}{ds}𝒱(u)$$

for every smooth path $`M:su(s,)`$. The covariant Hessian of $`𝒱`$ at a loop $`x:S^1M`$ is the operator $`_𝒱(x):\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$ defined by

$$_𝒱(u)_su:={}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)$$

for every smooth map $`M:su(s,)`$. The axiom $`(V1)`$ below asserts that this Hessian is a zeroth order operator. We impose the following conditions on $`𝒱`$; here $`||`$ denotes the pointwise absolute value at $`(s,t)\times S^1`$ and $`_{L^p}`$ denotes the $`L^p`$-norm over $`S^1`$ at time $`s`$.

$`𝒱`$ is continuous with respect to the $`C^0`$ topology on $`M`$. Moreover, there is a constant $`C>0`$ such that

$$\underset{xM}{sup}\left|𝒱(x)\right|+\underset{xM}{sup}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)_{L^{\mathrm{}}(S^1)}C.$$

There is a constant $`C>0`$ such that

$`\left|{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$ $`C\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^1}\right),`$
$`\left|{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$ $`C\left(1+\left|_tu\right|\right)`$
for every smooth map $`M:su(s,)`$ and every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$.

There is a constant $`C>0`$ such that

$`|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)|`$ $`C\left(\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^1}+\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2}\right)^2\right),`$
$`|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)|`$ $`C\left(\left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+\left(1+\left|_tu\right|\right)\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^1}\right)\right)`$
and

$$|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)_𝒱(u){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|C\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^2})^2$$

for every smooth map $`M:su(s,)`$ and every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$.

There is a constant $`C>0`$ such that

$`|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)|`$ $`C\left(\right|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^1}`$
$`+\left(\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}\right)\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2}\right)`$
$`+\left(\right|_su|+_su_L^{\mathrm{}})\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^2})^2),`$
$`|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)|`$ $`C\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^1})`$
$`+\left(1+\left|_tu\right|\right)\left(\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^1}\right)`$
$`+(1+|_tu\left|\right)\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^2})^2),`$
$`|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)|`$ $`C\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+(1+|_tu\left|\right)|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|`$
$`+(1+|_tu|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u|)\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^1}))`$
for every smooth map $`M:su(s,)`$ and every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$.

For any two integers $`k>0`$ and $`\mathrm{}0`$ there is a constant $`C=C(k,\mathrm{})`$ such that

$$\left|_t^{\mathrm{}}_s^k\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|C\underset{k_j,\mathrm{}_j}{}\left(\underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{j}{\mathrm{}_j>0}}{}\left|_t^\mathrm{}_j_s^{k_j}u\right|\right)\underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{j}{\mathrm{}_j=0}}{}\left(\left|_s^{k_j}u\right|+_s^{k_j}u_{L^{p_j}}\right)$$

for every smooth map $`M:su(s,)`$ and every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$; here $`p_j1`$ and $`_{\mathrm{}_j=0}1/p_j=1`$; the sum runs over all partitions $`k_1+\mathrm{}+k_m=k`$ and $`\mathrm{}_1+\mathrm{}+\mathrm{}_m\mathrm{}`$ such that $`k_j+\mathrm{}_j1`$ for all $`j`$. For $`k=0`$ the same inequality holds with an additional summand $`C`$ on the right.

###### Remark 2.1.

The archetypal example of a perturbation is

$$𝒱(x):=\rho \left(xx_0_{L^2}^2\right)_0^1V_t(x(t))𝑑t,$$

where $`\rho :[0,1]`$ is a smooth cutoff function, $`x_0:S^1M`$ is a smooth loop, and $`xx_0`$ denotes the difference in some ambient Euclidean space into which $`M`$ is (isometrically) embedded. Any such perturbation satisfies $`(V0V4)`$.

###### Remark 2.2.

If

$$𝒱(x)=_0^1V_t(x(t))𝑑t$$

then

$$\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)=V_t(x),_𝒱(x)\xi ={}_{\xi }{}^{}V_t(x),$$

for $`xM`$ and $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$.

With an abstract perturbation $`𝒱`$ the classical and symplectic action are given by

$$𝒮_𝒱(x)=\frac{1}{2}_0^1\left|\dot{x}(t)\right|^2𝑑t𝒱(x)$$

and

$$𝒜_𝒱(x,y)=_0^1\left(y(t),\dot{x}(t)\frac{1}{2}\left|y(t)\right|^2\right)𝑑t𝒱(x)$$

for $`xM`$ and $`y\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}T^{}M)`$. Equation (7) has the form

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}v\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)=0,{}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^2(_tuv)=0.$$
(9)
and the limit equation is

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)=0.$$
(10)
Here $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)`$ denotes the value of $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱`$ on the loop $`tu(s,t)`$. The relevant set of critical points consists of the loops $`x:S^1M`$ that satisfy the differential equation $`{}_{t}{}^{}\dot{x}=\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)`$ and will be denoted by $`𝒫(𝒱)`$. The subset $`𝒫^a(𝒱)𝒫(𝒱)`$ consists of all critical points $`x`$ with $`𝒮_𝒱(x)a`$.

## 3 The linearized operators

Throughout this section we fix a perturbation $`𝒱`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Linearizing the heat equation (10) gives rise to the operator

$$𝒟_u^0:\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)$$

given by

$$𝒟_u^0\xi ={}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi ,$$
(11)
for every element $`\xi `$ of the set $`\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$ of smooth vector fields along $`u`$. If $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse then this is a Fredholm operator between appropriate Sobolev completions. More precisely, define

$$_u=_u^p,𝒲_u=𝒲_u^p$$

as the completions of the space of smooth compactly supported sections of the pullback tangent bundle $`u^{}TM\times S^1`$ with respect to the norms

$$\xi _{}=\left(_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1|\xi |^p𝑑t𝑑s\right)^{1/p},$$

$$\xi _𝒲=(_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1|\xi |^p+|{}_{s}{}^{}\xi |^p+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi |^pdtds)^{1/p}.$$

Then $`𝒟_u^0:𝒲_u^p_u^p`$ is a Fredholm operator for $`p>1`$ (Theorem A.4) with index

$$\mathrm{index}𝒟_u^0=\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^{})\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^+).$$

Here $`\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x)`$ denotes the Morse index, i.e. the number of negative eigenvalues of the Hessian of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. This Hessian is given by

$$A^0(x)\xi ={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,\dot{x})\dot{x}_𝒱(x)\xi ,$$

where $`R`$ denotes the Riemann curvature tensor and $`_𝒱`$ denotes the covariant Hessian of $`𝒱`$ (see Section 2). The Morse–Smale condition asserts that the operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ is surjective for every finite energy solution of (3). That this condition can be achieved by a generic perturbation $`𝒱`$ is proved in  (see Appendix A).

Linearizing equation (9) gives rise to the first order differential operator

$$𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon :W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)L^p(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)$$

given by

$$𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ \eta \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}\eta R(\xi ,_tu)v_𝒱(u)\xi \\ {}_{s}{}^{}\eta +R(\xi ,_su)v+\epsilon ^2({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta )\end{array}\right)$$
(12)
for $`(\xi ,\eta )W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$.

###### Remark 3.1.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and let $`p>1`$. Then $`𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$ is a Fredholm operator for every pair $`(u,v)`$ that satisfies (6) and its index is given by

$$\mathrm{index}𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon =\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^{})\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^+).$$

To see this rescale $`u`$ and $`v`$ as in Remark 1.3. Then the operator on the rescaled vector fields $`\stackrel{~}{\xi }(s,t):=\xi (\epsilon ^1s,t)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\eta }(s,t):=g^1\eta (\epsilon ^1s,t)`$ has the same form as in Floer’s original papers  with the almost complex structure $`J_\epsilon `$ of Remark 1.3. That this operator is Fredholm was proved in  for $`p=2`$. An elegant proof of the Fredholm property for general $`p>1`$ was given by Donaldson  for the instanton case; it adapts easily to the symplectic case . The Fredholm index can be expressed as a difference of the Conley–Zehnder indices . That it agrees with the difference of the Morse indices was proved in .

Let us now fix a solution $`u`$ of (3) and define $`v:=_tu.`$ For this pair $`(u,v)`$ we must prove that the operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon :=𝒟_{u,_tu}^\epsilon `$ is onto for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small and prove an estimate for the right inverse which is independent of $`\epsilon `$. We will establish this under the assumption that the operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ is onto. To obtain uniform estimates for the inverse with constants independent of $`\epsilon `$ we must work with suitable $`\epsilon `$-dependent norms. For compactly supported vector fields $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ define

$$\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }=\left(_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1\left(\left|\xi \right|^p+\epsilon ^p\left|\eta \right|^p\right)𝑑t𝑑s\right)^{1/p},$$

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \zeta _{1,p,\epsilon }& =(_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1\left(\right|\xi |^p+\epsilon ^p|\eta |^p+\epsilon ^p|{}_{t}{}^{}\xi |^p+\epsilon ^{2p}|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^{2p}|{}_{s}{}^{}\xi |^p+\epsilon ^{3p}|{}_{s}{}^{}\eta |^p)dtds)^{1/p}.\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Theorem 3.2.

Let $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ be a smooth map such that $`v`$ and the derivatives $`_su,_tu,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ are bounded and $`lim_{s\pm \mathrm{}}u(s,t)`$ exists, uniformly in $`t`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there are positive constants $`c`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$ and every $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM),`$ we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _{L^p}+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{L^p}+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{L^p}+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _{L^p}\hfill \\ & c\left(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\xi _{L^p}+\epsilon ^2\eta _{L^p}\right).\hfill \end{array}$$
(13)
The formal adjoint operator $`(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}`$ defined below satisfies the same estimate. Moreover, the constants $`c`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ are invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$.

The formal adjoint operator

$$(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}:W^{2,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)$$

with respect to the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-inner product associated to the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-norm has the form

$$(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}\left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ \eta \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}\eta R(\xi ,v)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi +\epsilon ^2R(\eta ,v)_su\\ {}_{s}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta )\end{array}\right)$$

for $`\xi ,\eta W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$. We shall also use the projection operator

$$\pi _\epsilon :L^p(S^1,x^{}TM)\times L^p(S^1,x^{}TM)W^{1,p}(S^1,x^{}TM)$$

given by

$$\pi _\epsilon (\xi ,\eta )=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )$$

for $`xM`$ and $`\xi ,\eta \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$. This operator, for the loop $`x(t)=u(s,t)`$, will be applied to the pair $`(\xi (s,),\eta (s,))`$.

###### Theorem 3.3.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse-Smale and let $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there are positive constants $`c`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ (invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$) such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$ the following are true. The operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon :=𝒟_{u,_tu}^\epsilon `$ is onto and for every pair

$$\zeta :=(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)$$

we have

$$\xi _{L^p}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _{L^p}+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{L^p}c\left(\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta )_{L^p}\right),$$
(14)
$$\zeta _{1,p,\epsilon }c\left(\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta )_{L^p}\right).$$
(15)
The proofs of Theorems 3.2 and 3.3 are given in Appendix D. They are based on a simplified form of Theorem 3.2 for flat manifolds with $`𝒱=0`$ which is proved in Appendix C. In particular, Corollary C.3 shows that the $`\epsilon `$-weights on the left hand side of equation (13) appear in a natural manner by a rescaling argument and, for $`p=2`$, these terms can be interpreted as a linearized version of the energy. This was in fact the motivation for introducing the above $`\epsilon `$-dependent norms. The proof of Theorem 3.3 is based on Theorem 3.2 and a comparison of the operators $`𝒟_u^0`$ and $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$.

To construct a solution of (7) near a parabolic cylinder it is useful to combine Theorems 3.2 and 3.3 into the following corollary. This corollary involves an $`\epsilon `$-dependent norm which at first glance appears to be somewhat less natural but plays a useful role for technical reasons.

Given a smooth map $`u:\times S^1M`$ and a compactly supported pair of vector fields $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ we define

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill |\zeta |_\epsilon & :=\xi _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon ^{3/2p}\xi _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2+2/p}\eta _{\mathrm{}}.\hfill \end{array}$$
(16)
For small $`\epsilon `$ this norm is much bigger than the $`(1,p,\epsilon )`$-norm.

###### Corollary 3.4.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse-Smale and let $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there are positive constants $`c`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$ the following holds. If

$$\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{},\zeta ^{}=(\xi ^{},\eta ^{}):=𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ,$$

then

$$|\zeta |_\epsilon c\left(\xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^{3/2}\eta ^{}_p\right).$$
(17)
###### Proof.

Let $`c_2`$ be the constant of Theorem 3.2 and $`c_3`$ be the constant of Theorem 3.3. Then, by Theorem 3.3,

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \xi _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p\hfill \\ & c_3(\epsilon \xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^2\eta ^{}_p+(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi ^{}\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{})_p)\hfill \\ & c_3\left((1+\epsilon )\xi ^{}_p+(\epsilon ^2+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{3/2})\eta ^{}_p\right)\hfill \\ & c_4\left(\xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^{3/2}\eta ^{}_p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the second step follows from Lemma D.3. Combining the last estimate with Theorem 3.2 we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & c_2\epsilon \left(\xi ^{}_p+\epsilon \eta ^{}_p+\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right)\hfill \\ & c_2\left(\epsilon \xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^2\eta ^{}_p+c_4\epsilon \left(\xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^{3/2}\eta ^{}_p\right)\right)\hfill \\ & c_2(1+c_4)\left(\epsilon \xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^2\eta ^{}_p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

Now let $`c_5`$ be the constant of Lemma 3.5 below. Then

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \epsilon ^{3/2p}\xi _{\mathrm{}}& c_5\left(\xi _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\right),\hfill \\ \hfill \epsilon ^{1/2+2/p}\eta _{\mathrm{}}& c_5\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$
(18)
(Here we used the cases $`(\beta _1,\beta _2)=(1/2,1)`$ and $`(\beta _1,\beta _2)=(1/2,3/2)`$.) Combining these four estimates we obtain (17). ∎

The second estimate in the proof of Corollary 3.4 shows that one can obtain a stronger estimate than (17) from Theorems 3.2 and 3.3. Namely, (17) continues to hold if $`|\zeta |_\epsilon `$ is replaced by the stronger norm where the $`L^p`$ norms of $`{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta `$, $`{}_{t}{}^{}\eta `$, $`{}_{s}{}^{}\xi `$, and $`{}_{s}{}^{}\eta `$ are multiplied by an additional factor $`\epsilon ^{1/2}`$. The reason for not using this stronger norm lies in the proof of Theorem 4.1. In the first step of the iteration we solve an equation of the form $`𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _0=\zeta ^{}=(0,\eta ^{})`$ where $`\eta ^{}`$ is bounded (in $`L^p`$) with all its derivatives. Our goal in this first step is to obtain the sharpest possible estimate for $`\zeta _0`$ and its first derivatives. We shall see that this estimate has the form $`|\zeta _0|_\epsilon c\epsilon ^2`$ and that such an estimate in terms of $`\epsilon ^2`$ cannot be obtained with the stronger norm indicated above.

###### Lemma 3.5.

Let $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ such that $`_su_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$ are finite and $`lim_{s\pm \mathrm{}}u(s,t)`$ exists, uniformly in $`t`$. Then, for every $`p>2`$, there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$\xi _{\mathrm{}}c\epsilon ^{(\beta _1+\beta _2)/p}\left(\xi _p+\epsilon ^{\beta _1}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon ^{\beta _2}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\right)$$

for every $`\epsilon (0,1]`$, every pair of nonnegative real numbers $`\beta _1`$ and $`\beta _2`$, and every compactly supported vector field $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

Define $`\stackrel{~}{u}:Z_\epsilon :=\times \left(/\epsilon ^{\beta _1}\right)M`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\xi }\mathrm{\Omega }^0(Z_\epsilon ,\stackrel{~}{u}^{}TM)`$ by

$$\stackrel{~}{u}(s,t):=u(\epsilon ^{\beta _2}s,\epsilon ^{\beta _1}t),\stackrel{~}{\xi }(s,t):=\xi (\epsilon ^{\beta _2}s,\epsilon ^{\beta _1}t).$$

The estimate is equivalent to the Sobolev inequality

$$\stackrel{~}{\xi }_{\mathrm{}}c\left(\stackrel{~}{\xi }_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{\xi }_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{\xi }_p\right)$$

with a uniform constant $`c=c(p,_su_{\mathrm{}},_tu_{\mathrm{}})`$ that is independent of $`\epsilon (0,1]`$. (To see how the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bounds on $`_su`$ and $`_tu`$ enter the estimate, embedd $`M`$ into some euclidean space and use the Gauss-Weingarten formula.) ∎

## 4 Existence and uniqueness

Throughout this section we fix a perturbation $`𝒱`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. In the next theorem we denote by

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(x,\xi ):T_xMT_{\mathrm{exp}_x(\xi )}M$$

parallel transport along the geodesic $`\tau \mathrm{exp}_x(\tau \xi )`$.

###### Theorem 4.1 (Existence).

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix two constants $`a`$ and $`p>2`$. Then there are positive constants $`c`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ such that the following holds. For every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$, every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ of index difference one, and every $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$, there exists a pair $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ of the form

$$u^\epsilon =\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ),v^\epsilon =\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(_tu+\eta ),(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{},$$

where $`\xi `$ and $`\eta `$ satisfy the inequalities

$$\begin{array}{cc}& {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _{L^p}+\xi _{L^p}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _{L^p}+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{L^p}\hfill \\ & +\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{L^p}+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{L^p}+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _{L^p}c\epsilon ^2\hfill \end{array}$$
(19)
and

$$\xi _L^{\mathrm{}}c\epsilon ^{23/2p},\eta _L^{\mathrm{}}c\epsilon ^{3/22/p}.$$
(20)
###### Remark 4.2.

The estimates (19) and (20) can be summarized in the form

$$|\zeta |_\epsilon c\epsilon ^2$$

(with a larger constant $`c`$).

###### Theorem 4.3 (Uniqueness).

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix two constants $`a`$ and $`C>0`$. Then there are positive constants $`\delta `$ and $`\epsilon _0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$, every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ of index difference one, and every $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ the following holds. If

$$(\xi _i,\eta _i)\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{},\xi _i_L^{\mathrm{}}\delta \epsilon ^{1/2},\eta _i_L^{\mathrm{}}C,$$
(21)
for $`i=1,2`$ and the pairs

$$u_i^\epsilon :=\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi _i),v_i^\epsilon :=\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi _i)(_tu+\eta _i),$$

belong to the moduli space $`^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$, then $`(u_1^\epsilon ,v_1^\epsilon )=(u_2^\epsilon ,v_2^\epsilon )`$.

In the hypotheses of Theorem 4.3 we did not specify the Sobolev space to which $`\zeta _i=(\xi _i,\eta _i)`$ is required to belong. The reason is that $`\zeta _i`$ is smooth and, by exponential decay, belongs to the Sobolev space $`W^{k,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ for every integer $`k0`$ and every $`p1`$.

###### Definition 4.4.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix three constants $`a`$, $`C>0`$, and $`p>2`$. Choose positive constants $`\epsilon _0`$, $`\delta `$, and $`c`$ such that the assertions of Theorem 4.1 and 4.3 hold with these constants. Shrink $`\epsilon _0`$ so that $`c\epsilon _0^{1/2}<\delta `$ and $`c\epsilon _0^{1/2}C`$. Define the map

$$𝒯^\epsilon :^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)$$

by

$$𝒯^\epsilon (u):=(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon ),u^\epsilon :=\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ),v^\epsilon :=\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(_tu+\eta ),$$

where the pair $`(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}`$ is chosen such that (19) and (20) are satisfied and $`(\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ),\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(_tu+\eta ))^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Such a pair $`(\xi ,\eta )`$ exists, by Theorem 4.1, and is unique, by Theorem 4.3. The map $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ is shift equivariant.

The proof of Theorem 4.1 is based on the Newton–Picard iteration method to detect a zero of a map near an approximate zero. The first step is to define a suitable map between Banach spaces. In order to do so let $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ be a smooth map and consider the map $`_{u,v}^\epsilon :W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)L^p(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ given by

$$_{u,v}^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ \eta \end{array}\right):=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )^1& 0\\ 0& \mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )^1\end{array}\right)_\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{exp}_u\xi \\ \mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(v+\eta )\end{array}\right),$$
(22)
where

$$_\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}u^\epsilon \\ v^\epsilon \end{array}\right):=\left(\begin{array}{c}_su^\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u^\epsilon )\\ {}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }+\epsilon ^2(_tu^\epsilon v^\epsilon )\end{array}\right).$$
(23)
Thus, abbreviating $`\mathrm{\Phi }:=\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )`$, we have

$$_{u,v}^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ \eta \end{array}\right):=\left(\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Phi }^1(_s\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ){}_{t}{}^{}(\mathrm{\Phi }(v+\eta ))\mathrm{grad}𝒱(\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi )))\\ \mathrm{\Phi }^1({}_{s}{}^{}(\mathrm{\Phi }(v+\eta ))+\epsilon ^2_t\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ))\epsilon ^2(v+\eta )\end{array}\right).$$

Moreover, the differential of $`_{u,v}^\epsilon `$ at the origin is given by $`d_{u,v}^\epsilon (0,0)=𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$ (see \[23, Appendix A.3\]).

One of the key ingredients in the iteration is to have control over the variation of derivatives. This is provided by the following quadratic estimates.

###### Proposition 4.5.

There exists a constant $`\delta >0`$ with the following significance. For every $`p>1`$ and every $`c_0>0`$ there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that the following is true. Let $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ be a smooth map and $`Z=(X,Y),\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ be two pairs of vector fields along $`u`$ such that

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_{\mathrm{}}+v_{\mathrm{}}c_0,\xi _{\mathrm{}}+X_{\mathrm{}}\delta ,\eta _{\mathrm{}}+Y_{\mathrm{}}c_0.$$

Then the vector fields $`F_1`$, $`F_2`$ along $`u`$, defined by

$$_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z+\zeta )_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)d_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)\zeta =:\left(\begin{array}{c}F_1\\ F_2\end{array}\right),$$

satisfy the inequalities

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F_1_p& c\xi _{\mathrm{}}\left(\xi _p+\eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\xi _{\mathrm{}}\right)\hfill \\ & +c\left({}_{t}{}^{}X_p+{}_{s}{}^{}X_p\right)\xi _{\mathrm{}}^2+c{}_{t}{}^{}X_p\xi _{\mathrm{}}\eta _{\mathrm{}}\hfill \\ & +cX_{\mathrm{}}\left({}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\xi _{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p\eta _{\mathrm{}}\right),\hfill \\ \hfill F_2_p& c\xi _{\mathrm{}}\left(\epsilon ^2\xi _p+\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p\xi _{\mathrm{}}\right)\hfill \\ & +c\left({}_{s}{}^{}X_p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}X_p\right)\xi _{\mathrm{}}^2+c{}_{s}{}^{}X_p\xi _{\mathrm{}}\eta _{\mathrm{}}\hfill \\ & +cX_{\mathrm{}}\left(\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p\xi _{\mathrm{}}+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\eta _{\mathrm{}}\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Proposition 4.6.

There exists a constant $`\delta >0`$ with the following significance. For every $`p>1`$ and every $`c_0>0`$ there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that the following is true. Let $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ be a smooth map and $`Z=(X,Y),\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ be two pairs of vector fields along $`u`$ such that

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_{\mathrm{}}+v_{\mathrm{}}c_0,X_{\mathrm{}}\delta ,Y_{\mathrm{}}c_0.$$

Then the vector fields $`F_1`$, $`F_2`$ along $`u`$, defined by

$$d_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)\zeta d_{u,v}^\epsilon (0)\zeta =:\left(\begin{array}{c}F_1\\ F_2\end{array}\right),$$

satisfy the inequalities

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F_1_p& c\xi _{\mathrm{}}\left(X_p+Y_p+{}_{t}{}^{}X_p+{}_{s}{}^{}X_pX_{\mathrm{}}\right)\hfill \\ & +cX_{\mathrm{}}\left(\eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _pX_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}X_p\eta _{\mathrm{}}\right),\hfill \\ \hfill F_2_p& c\xi _{\mathrm{}}\left(\epsilon ^2X_p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}X_pX_{\mathrm{}}+Y_p+{}_{s}{}^{}X_p\right)\hfill \\ & +cX_{\mathrm{}}\left(\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pX_{\mathrm{}}+\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{s}{}^{}X_p\eta _{\mathrm{}}\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

For the proof of Propositions 4.5 and 4.6 we refer to \[23, Chapter 5\]. To understand the estimate of Proposition 4.6 note that $`\eta `$ and $`Y`$ appear only as zeroth order terms, that $`{}_{s}{}^{}\xi `$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}X`$ appear only in cubic terms in $`F_1`$, and that $`{}_{t}{}^{}\xi `$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}X`$ appear only in cubic terms in $`F_2`$. This follows from the fact that the first component of $`_\epsilon `$ is linear in $`_su`$ and the second component is linear in $`_tu`$. In Proposition 4.5 we have included cubic terms that arise when the derivative hits $`X`$. In this case we must use the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms on the factors $`\xi `$ and $`\eta `$ and can profit from the fact that $`{}_{s}{}^{}X`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}X`$ will be small in $`L^p`$. The constant $`\delta `$ appears as a condition for the pointwise quadratic estimates in suitable coordinate charts on $`M`$.

We now reformulate the quadratic estimates in terms of the norm (16).

###### Corollary 4.7.

There exists a constant $`\delta >0`$ with the following significance. For every $`p>1`$ and every $`c_0>0`$ there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`(u,v)`$, $`Z=(X,Y)`$ and $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )`$ satisfy the hypotheses of Proposition 4.5 then

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _{u,v}^\epsilon (Z+\zeta )_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)d_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & c|\zeta |_\epsilon \left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^1\xi _{\mathrm{}}^2\right)+c\epsilon ^{13/2p}|Z|_\epsilon |\zeta |_\epsilon \left(\xi _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _{\mathrm{}}\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

If $`(u,v)`$, $`Z=(X,Y)`$ and $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )`$ satisfy the hypotheses of Proposition 4.6 then

$$d_{u,v}^\epsilon (Z)\zeta d_{u,v}^\epsilon (0)\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}c\left(\epsilon ^{1/23/2p}|Z|_\epsilon +\epsilon ^{17/2p}|Z|_\epsilon ^2\right)|\zeta |_\epsilon .$$

###### Proof.

The result follows from Propositions 4.6 and 4.5 via term by term inspection. In particular, we must use the inequalities

$$\xi _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon \eta _{\mathrm{}}c\epsilon ^{3/p}\zeta _{1,p,\epsilon },X_{\mathrm{}}\epsilon ^{3/2p}|Z|_\epsilon $$

at various places. The first follows from Lemma 3.5 with $`(\beta _1,\beta _2)=(1,2)`$ and the second from the definition of the norm in (16). ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 4.1..

Given $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ with $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ we aim to detect an element of $`^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ near $`u`$. We set $`v:=_tu`$ and carry out the Newton–Picard iteration method for the map $`_u^\epsilon :=_{u,_tu}^\epsilon `$. Key ingredients are a small initial value, a uniformly bounded right inverse and control over the variation of derivatives (which is provided by the quadratic estimates above). Because $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse-Smale, the sets $`𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ and $`^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)/`$ are finite (the latter in addition relies on the assumption of index difference one). All constants appearing below turn out to be invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$. Hence they can be chosen to depend on $`a`$ only.

Since $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ it follows from Theorems A.1 and A.2 that there is a constant $`c_0>0`$ such that

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}c_0$$
(24)
and

$${}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_pc_0.$$
(25)
Thus the assumptions in Theorem 3.2, Theorem 3.3, Proposition 4.5, Proposition 4.6 and Lemma 3.5 are satisfied. Moreover, by (25) the value of the initial point $`Z_0:=0`$ is indeed small with respect to the $`(0,p,\epsilon )`$-norm:

$$_u^\epsilon (0)_{0,p,\epsilon }=^\epsilon (u,_tu)_{0,p,\epsilon }=\left(\begin{array}{c}0\\ {}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\end{array}\right)_{0,p,\epsilon }c_0\epsilon .$$
(26)
Here we used in addition (22), (23) and the parabolic equations. Define the initial correction term $`\zeta _0=(\xi _0,\eta _0)`$ by

$$\zeta _0:=𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{}(𝒟_u^\epsilon 𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{})^1_u^\epsilon (0).$$

Recursively, for $`\nu `$, define the sequence of correction terms $`\zeta _\nu =(\xi _\nu ,\eta _\nu )`$ by

$$\zeta _\nu :=𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{}(𝒟_u^\epsilon 𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{})^1_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu ),Z_\nu =(X_\nu ,Y_\nu ):=\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\nu 1}{}}\zeta _{\mathrm{}}.$$
(27)
We prove by induction that there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \frac{c}{2^\nu }\epsilon ^2,_u^\epsilon (Z_{\nu +1})_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\frac{c}{2^\nu }\epsilon ^{7/23/2p}.$$
$`(H_\nu )`$
Initial Step: $`\nu \mathbf{=}\mathrm{𝟎}`$. By definition of $`\zeta _0`$ we have

$$𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _0=_u^\epsilon (0)=\left(\begin{array}{c}0\\ {}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\end{array}\right).$$

Thus, by Theorem 3.3 (with constant $`c_1>0`$),

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \xi _0_p+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _0_p+\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p& c_1\left(\epsilon (0,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)_{0,p,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon (0,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)_p\right)\hfill \\ & c_1(\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_p)\hfill \\ & c_0c_1\epsilon ^2.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the second inequality follows from Lemma D.3 and the last from (25). By Theorem 3.2 (with constant $`c_2>0`$),

$$\begin{array}{cc}& {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}\eta _0_p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{0}^{}_p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _{0}^{}_p\hfill \\ & c_2\epsilon \left((0,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)_{0,p,\epsilon }+\xi _0_p+\epsilon ^2\eta _0_p\right)\hfill \\ & c_2\epsilon \left(\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_p+c_0c_1\epsilon ^2\right)\hfill \\ & c_0c_2(1+c_1\epsilon )\epsilon ^2.\hfill \end{array}$$

The last inequality follows again from (25). Combining these two estimates with (18) we obtain

$$\epsilon ^{3/2p}\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2+2/p}\eta _0_{\mathrm{}}|\zeta _0|_\epsilon c\epsilon ^2.$$
(28)
with a suitable constant $`c>0`$ (depending only on $`c_0,c_1,c_2`$ and the constant of Lemma 3.5). This proves the first estimate in ($`H_\nu `$) for $`\nu =0`$. To prove the second estimate we observe that $`Z_1=\zeta _0`$ and hence, by Proposition 4.5 (with constant $`c_3>0`$),

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _u^\epsilon (Z_1)_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & =_u^\epsilon (\zeta _0)_u^\epsilon (0)𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _0_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & c_3\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}\left(\xi _0_p+\eta _0_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}\right)\hfill \\ & +c_3\epsilon ^{3/2}\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}\left(\epsilon ^2\xi _0_p+\eta _0_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}\right)\hfill \\ & c\epsilon ^{7/23/2p}.\hfill \end{array}$$

with a suitable constant $`c>0`$ (depending only on $`c_0,c_1,c_2`$ and the constant of Lemma 3.5). Thus we have proved ($`H_\nu `$) for $`\nu =0`$. From now on we fix the constant $`c`$ for which the estimate ($`H_0`$) has been established.

Induction step: $`\nu \mathbf{}\mathrm{𝟏}\mathbf{}\nu `$. Let $`\nu 1`$ and assume that $`(H_0),\mathrm{},(H_{\nu 1})`$ are true. Then

$$|Z_\nu |_\epsilon \underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\nu 1}{}}|\zeta _{\mathrm{}}|_\epsilon c\epsilon ^2\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\nu 1}{}}2^{\mathrm{}}2c\epsilon ^2,$$

$$_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu )_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\frac{c}{2^{\nu 1}}\epsilon ^{7/23/2p}.$$

By (27) we have

$$𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _\nu =_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu ),\zeta _\nu \mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}.$$

Hence, by Corollary 3.4, (with constant $`c_4>0`$),

$$|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon c_4_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu )_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\frac{cc_4}{2^{\nu 1}}\epsilon ^{7/23/2p}\frac{c}{2^\nu }\epsilon ^2.$$
(29)
The last inequality holds whenever $`c_4\epsilon ^{3/23/2p}1/2`$.

By what we have just proved the vector fields $`Z_\nu `$ and $`\zeta _\nu `$ satisfy the requirements of Corollary 4.7 (with the constant $`c_5>0`$). Hence

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _u^\epsilon (Z_{\nu +1})_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}& _u^\epsilon (Z_\nu +\zeta _\nu )_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu )d_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu )\zeta _\nu _{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & +d_u^\epsilon (Z_\nu )\zeta _\nu 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _\nu _{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & c_5\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _\nu _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^1\xi _\nu _{\mathrm{}}^2\right)|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +c_5\epsilon ^{13/2p}|Z_\nu |_\epsilon \left(\xi _\nu _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _\nu _{\mathrm{}}\right)|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +c_5\epsilon ^{1/23/2p}|Z_\nu |_\epsilon |\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon +c_5\epsilon ^{17/2p}|Z_\nu |_\epsilon ^2|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & c_5\left(c\epsilon ^{3/23/2p}+c^2\epsilon ^{33/p}\right)|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon +2c^2c_5\epsilon ^{37/2p}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +2cc_5\epsilon ^{3/23/2p}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon +4c^2c_5\epsilon ^{37/2p}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & \frac{1}{2c_4}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon \hfill \\ & \frac{c}{2^\nu }\epsilon ^{7/23/2p}.\hfill \end{array}$$

In the third step we have used the inequalities

$$\xi _\nu _{\mathrm{}}\epsilon ^{3/2p}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon c\epsilon ^{23/2p}$$

and

$$\xi _\nu _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _\nu _{\mathrm{}}\epsilon ^{2/p}|\zeta _\nu |_\epsilon c\epsilon ^{22/p}$$

as well as $`|Z|_\nu 2c\epsilon ^2`$. The fourth step holds for $`\epsilon `$ sufficiently small, and the last step follows from (29). This completes the induction and proves ($`H_\nu `$) for every $`\nu `$.

It follows from ($`H_\nu `$) that $`Z_\nu `$ is a Cauchy sequence with respect to $`||||||_\epsilon `$. Denote its limit by

$$\zeta :=\underset{\nu \mathrm{}}{lim}Z_\nu =\underset{\nu =0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\zeta _\nu .$$

By construction and by ($`H_\nu `$), the limit satisfies

$$|\zeta |_\epsilon 2c\epsilon ^2,_\nu ^\epsilon (\zeta )=0,\zeta \mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}.$$

Hence, by (22), the pair

$$(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon ):=(exp_u(\xi ),\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(_tu+\eta ))$$

is a solution of (7). Since $`|\zeta |_\epsilon `$ is finite it follows that $`(_su^\epsilon ,{}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon })`$ is bounded. Hence, by the standard elliptic bootstrapping arguments for pseudoholomorphic curves, the shifted functions $`u^\epsilon (s+,),v^\epsilon (s+,)`$ converge in the $`C^{\mathrm{}}`$ topology on every compact set as $`s`$ tends to $`\pm \mathrm{}`$. Since $`\zeta W^{1,p}`$, the limits must be the periodic orbits $`x^\pm `$ and, moreover, the pair $`(_su^\epsilon (s,t),{}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }(s,t))`$ converges to zero, uniformly in $`t`$, as $`s`$ tends to $`\pm \mathrm{}`$. Hence $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Evidently, each step in the iteration including the constants in the estimates is invariant under time shift. This proves the theorem. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 4.3..

Fix a constant $`p>2`$ and an index one parabolic cylinder $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Denote $`v:=_tu`$ and $`_u^\epsilon :=_{u,_tu}^\epsilon `$. As in the proof of Theorem 4.1, the map $`u`$ satisfies the estimates (24) and (25). Denote by

$$𝒯^\epsilon (u)=(\mathrm{exp}_u(X),\mathrm{\Phi }(u,X)(_tu+Y))$$

the solution of (7) constructed in Theorem 4.1. Then

$$Z\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{},_u^\epsilon (Z)=0,|Z|_\epsilon c\epsilon ^2$$

for a suitable constant $`c>0`$. Now suppose $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ satisfies the hypotheses of the theorem. This means that there is a pair

$$\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)$$

such that

$$\zeta \mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{},_u^\epsilon (\zeta )=0,\xi _{\mathrm{}}\delta \epsilon ^{1/2},\eta _{\mathrm{}}C.$$

The difference

$$\zeta ^{}:=(\xi ^{},\eta ^{}):=\zeta Z$$

satisfies the inequalities

$$\xi ^{}_{\mathrm{}}\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}+c\epsilon ^{23/2p}2\delta \epsilon ^{1/2},\eta ^{}_{\mathrm{}}C+c\epsilon ^{3/22/p}2C,$$

provided that $`\epsilon `$ is sufficiently small. Hence, by Corollary 3.4 (with a constant $`c_1>0`$) and Corollary 4.7 (with a constant $`c_2>0`$), we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill |\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon & c_1𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & c_1_u^\epsilon (Z+\zeta ^{})_u^\epsilon (Z)d_u^\epsilon (Z)\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & +c_1d_u^\epsilon (Z)\zeta ^{}d_u^\epsilon (0)\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon ^{3/2}}\hfill \\ & c_1c_2\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi ^{}_{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^1\xi ^{}_{\mathrm{}}^2\right)|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +c_1c_2\epsilon ^{13/2p}|Z|_\epsilon \left(\xi ^{}_{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta ^{}_{\mathrm{}}\right)|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +c_1c_2\epsilon ^{1/23/2p}|Z|_\epsilon |\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon +c_1c_2\epsilon ^{17/2p}|Z|_\epsilon ^2|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon \hfill \\ & c_1c_2\left(2\delta +4\delta ^2\right)|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon +cc_1c_2\epsilon ^{3/23/2p}\left(2\delta +2C\right)|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon \hfill \\ & +cc_1c_2\epsilon ^{3/23/2p}|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon +c^2c_1c_2\epsilon ^{37/2p}|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon \hfill \\ & \frac{1}{2}|\zeta ^{}|_\epsilon .\hfill \end{array}$$

The last inequality holds when $`\delta `$ and $`\epsilon `$ are sufficiently small. It follows that $`\zeta ^{}=0`$ and this proves the theorem. ∎

## 5 An apriori estimate

###### Theorem 5.1.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0)`$ and $`(V1)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) such that

$$E^\epsilon (u,v)c_0,\underset{s}{sup}𝒜_𝒱(u(s,),v(s,))c_0$$
(30)
then $`v_{\mathrm{}}C.`$

For $`\epsilon =1`$ and $`𝒱(x)=_0^1V_t(x(t))𝑑t`$ this result was proved by Cieliebak \[1, Theorem 5.4\]. His proof combines the 2-dimensional maximum principle and the Krein-Rutman theorem. Our proof is based on the following $`L^2`$-estimate.

###### Proposition 5.2.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0)`$ and $`(V1)`$. Then there is a constant $`c=c(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (7) that satisfies (30) then

$$\underset{s}{sup}_0^1\left|v(s,t)\right|^2𝑑tc.$$

###### Proof.

Define $`F:`$ by

$$F(s):=_0^1\left|v(s,t)\right|^2𝑑t.$$

We prove that there is a constant $`\mu =\mu (𝒱)>0`$ such that

$$\epsilon ^2F^{\prime \prime }F^{}+\mu F+10.$$
(31)
To see this we abbreviate

$$L_\epsilon :=\epsilon ^2_s^2+_t^2_s,_\epsilon :=\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}.$$

By (9), we have

$$_\epsilon v={}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)$$
(32)
and hence

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill L_\epsilon \frac{|v|^2}{2}& =\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2+\left|{}_{t}{}^{}v\right|^2+_\epsilon v,v\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2+\left|{}_{t}{}^{}v\right|^2{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u),v\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2+\left|{}_{t}{}^{}v\right|^2C\left(1+\left|_tu\right|\right)\left|v\right|\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2+\left|{}_{t}{}^{}v\right|^2C\left(1+\left|v\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|\right)\left|v\right|\hfill \\ & \frac{\epsilon ^2}{2}\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2+\left|{}_{t}{}^{}v\right|^2\left(\frac{C^2}{2}+C+\frac{\epsilon ^2C^2}{2}\right)\left|v\right|^2\frac{1}{2}\hfill \\ & \left(C+C^2\right)\left|v\right|^2\frac{1}{2}.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here $`C`$ is the constant in $`(V1)`$. Integrating this inequality over the interval $`0t1`$ gives (31) with $`\mu :=2C+2C^2`$. It follows from (31) and Lemma B.3 with $`f`$ replaced by $`f+1/\mu `$ and $`r:=1/2`$ that

$$F(s)F(s)+\frac{1}{\mu }16c_2e^{\mu /4}_{s1}^{s+1}\left(F(\sigma )+\frac{1}{\mu }\right)𝑑\sigma $$
(33)
for every $`s`$.

Next we observe that, by (30), we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill c_0& 𝒜_𝒱(u(s,),v(s,))\hfill \\ & =_0^1\left(v(s,t),_tu(s,t)\frac{\left|v(s,t)\right|^2}{2}\right)𝑑t𝒱(u(s,))\hfill \\ & =_0^1\left(\frac{\left|v(s,t)\right|^2}{2}\epsilon ^2v(s,t),{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right)𝑑t𝒱(u(s,))\hfill \\ & _0^1\left(\frac{\left|v(s,t)\right|^2}{4}\epsilon ^4\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2\right)𝑑tC.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here $`C`$ is the constant in $`(V0)`$ and we have used the fact that $`_tu=v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$. This implies

$$F(s)4\left(c_0+C+_0^1\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2𝑑t\right)$$

for every $`s`$. Integrating this inequality we obtain

$$_{s1}^{s+1}F(\sigma )𝑑\sigma 8c_0+8C+8E^\epsilon (u,v)16c_0+8C.$$

Now the assertion follows from (33). ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 5.1.

In the proof of Proposition 5.2 we have seen that there is a constant $`\mu =\mu (𝒱)>0`$ such that every solution $`(u,v)`$ of (7) with $`0<\epsilon 1`$ satisfies the inequality

$$L_\epsilon \left|v\right|^2\mu \left|v\right|^21.$$
(34)
Now let $`(s_0,t_0)\times S^1`$ and apply Lemma B.2 with $`r=1`$ to the function $`w:\times P_1^\epsilon ,`$ given by $`w(s,t):=\left|v(s+s_0,t+t_0)\right|^2+1/\mu `$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \left|v(s_0,t_0)\right|^2& 2c_2e^\mu _{1\epsilon }^\epsilon _1^1\left(\left|v(s+s_0,t+t_0)\right|^2+\frac{1}{\mu }\right)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & 12c_2e^\mu \left(\frac{1}{\mu }+\underset{s}{sup}_0^1\left|v(s,t)\right|^2𝑑t\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

Hence the result follows from Proposition 5.2. ∎

## 6 Gradient bounds

###### Theorem 6.1.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), i.e. $`E^\epsilon (u,v)c_0`$ and $`sup_s𝒜_𝒱(u(s,),v(s,))c_0`$, then

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2\hfill \\ & +_{s1/2}^{s+1/2}_0^1\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2)\hfill \\ & CE_{[s1,s+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)\hfill \end{array}$$
(35)
for all $`s`$ and $`t`$. Here $`E_I^\epsilon (u,v)`$ denotes the energy of $`(u,v)`$ over the domain $`I\times S^1`$.

###### Remark 6.2.

Note that (35) implies the estimate

$$_tuv_L^{\mathrm{}}\epsilon ^2\sqrt{CE^\epsilon (u,v)}$$

for every solution $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ of (9) that satisfies (30).

The proof of Theorem 6.1 has five steps. The first step is a bubbling argument and establishes a weak form of the required $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ estimate (with $`_su`$ replaced by $`\epsilon ^2_su`$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ replaced by $`\epsilon ^3{}_{s}{}^{}v`$). The second step establishes an $`L^2`$-version of the estimate for $`_su(s,)_{L^2(S^1)}+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v(s,)_{L^2(S^1)}`$. The third step is an auxiliary result of the same type for the second derivatives. The fourth step establishes the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bound with $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ replaced by $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v`$. The final step then proves the theorem in full.

###### Lemma 6.3.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V1)`$. Then the following holds.

1. For every $`\delta >0`$ there is an $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that every solution $`(u,v):\times S^1M`$ of (9) and (30) with $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$ satisfies the inequality

$$\epsilon ^2_su_{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^3{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\mathrm{}}\delta .$$
(36)
2. For every $`\epsilon _0>0`$ there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that every solution $`(u,v):\times S^1M`$ of (9) and (30) with $`\epsilon _0\epsilon 1`$ satisfies

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\mathrm{}}c.$$

###### Proof.

We prove (i). Suppose, by contradiction, that the result is false. Then there is a sequence of solutions $`(u_\nu ,v_\nu ):\times S^1M`$ of (9) with $`\epsilon _\nu >0`$ satisfying

$$E^{\epsilon _\nu }(u_\nu ,v_\nu )c_0,\underset{s}{sup}𝒜_𝒱(u_\nu (s,),v_\nu (s,))c_0,\underset{\nu \mathrm{}}{lim}\epsilon _\nu =0,$$

and

$$\epsilon _\nu ^2_su_\nu _{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon _\nu ^3{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\nu }^{}_{\mathrm{}}2\delta $$

for suitable constants $`c_0>0`$ and $`\delta >0`$. Since $`(u_\nu ,v_\nu )`$ has finite energy the functions $`|_su_\nu (s,t)|`$ and $`|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\nu }^{}(s,t)|`$ converge to zero as $`|s|`$ tends to infinity. Hence the function $`|_su_\nu |+\epsilon _\nu |{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\nu }^{}|`$ takes on its maximum at some point $`z_\nu =s_\nu +it_\nu `$, i.e.

$$c_\nu :=\underset{\times S^1}{sup}\left(\left|_su_\nu \right|+\epsilon _\nu \left|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\nu }^{}\right|\right)=\left|_su_\nu (s_\nu ,t_\nu )\right|+\epsilon _\nu \left|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\nu }^{}(s_\nu ,t_\nu )\right|$$

and

$$\epsilon _\nu ^2c_\nu \delta .$$
(37)
Applying a time shift and using the periodicity in $`t`$ we may assume without loss of generality that $`s_\nu =0`$ and $`0t_\nu 1`$.

Now consider the sequence

$$\stackrel{~}{w}_\nu =(\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu ,\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu ):^2TM$$

defined by

$$\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (s,t):=u_\nu (\frac{s}{c_\nu },t_\nu +\frac{t}{\epsilon _\nu c_\nu }),\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu (s,t):=\epsilon _\nu v_\nu (\frac{s}{c_\nu },t_\nu +\frac{t}{\epsilon _\nu c_\nu }).$$

This sequence satisfies the partial differential equation

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu {}_{t}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}=\frac{1}{c_\nu }\xi _\nu ,{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}+_t\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu =\frac{1}{\epsilon _{\nu }^{}{}_{}{}^{2}c_\nu }\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu ,$$
(38)
where

$$\xi _\nu (s,t):=\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_\nu (s/c_\nu ,))(t_\nu +t/\epsilon _\nu c_\nu )T_{\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (s,t)}M.$$

By definition of $`c_\nu `$ we have

$$\left|_s\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (0,t_\nu )\right|+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}(0,t_\nu )\right|=1$$
(39)
and

$$\left|_s\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (s,t)\right|+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}(s,t)\right|1$$

for all $`s`$ and $`t`$. Since $`\left|\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu \right|`$ is uniformly bounded, by Theorem 5.1, and $`\left|\xi _\nu \right|`$ is uniformly bounded, by axiom $`(V0)`$, it then follows from (38) that $`\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu `$ are uniformly bounded in $`C^1`$. Moreover, it follows from $`(V1)`$ that

$$\left|{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{\nu }^{}(s,t)\right|\frac{C}{\epsilon _\nu c_\nu }\left(1+\left|_tu_\nu (s/c_\nu ,t_\nu +t/\epsilon _\nu c_\nu )\right|\right)=C\left(\frac{1}{\epsilon _\nu c_\nu }+\left|_t\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (s,t)\right|\right)$$

and

$$\left|{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{\nu }^{}(s,t)\right|\frac{C}{c_\nu }\left|_su_\nu (s/c_\nu ,t_\nu +t/\epsilon _\nu c_\nu )\right|=C\left|_s\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu (s,t)\right|.$$

Since the sequence $`1/\epsilon _\nu ^2c_\nu `$ is bounded, by (37), it now follows from (38) that $`_s\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu {}_{t}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}`$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}_{\nu }^{}+_t\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu `$ are uniformly bounded in $`C^1`$, and hence in $`W^{1,p}`$ for any $`p>2`$ and on any compact subset of $`^2`$. Since $`\stackrel{~}{u}_\nu `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{v}_\nu `$ are uniformly bounded in $`C^1`$, this implies that they are also uniformly bounded in $`W^{2,p}`$ over every compact subset of $`^2`$, by the standard elliptic bootstrapping techniques for $`J`$-holomorphic curves (see \[14, Appendix B\]). Hence, by the Arzéla–Ascoli theorem, there is a subsequence that converges in the $`C^1`$ topology to a solution $`(\stackrel{~}{u},\stackrel{~}{v})`$ of the partial differential equation

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}{}_{t}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}=0,{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}+_t\stackrel{~}{u}=\lambda \stackrel{~}{v},$$

where $`\lambda =lim_\nu \mathrm{}1/\epsilon _\nu ^2c_\nu `$. Since $`v_\nu `$ is uniformly bounded and $`\epsilon _\nu 0`$ we have $`\stackrel{~}{v}0`$ and so $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$ is constant. On the other hand it follows from (39) that $`(\stackrel{~}{u},\stackrel{~}{v})`$ is nonconstant; contradiction. This proves (i).

The proof of (ii) is almost word by word the same, except that $`\epsilon _\nu `$ no longer converges to zero while $`c_\nu `$ still diverges to infinity. So the limit $`\stackrel{~}{w}=(\stackrel{~}{u},\stackrel{~}{v}):TMT^{}M`$ is a $`J`$-holomorphic curve with finite energy and, by removal of singularities, extends to a nonconstant $`J`$-holomorphic sphere $`\stackrel{~}{w}:S^2T^{}M`$, which cannot exist since the symplectic form on $`T^{}M`$ is exact. ∎

The second step in the proof of Theorem 6.1 is to prove an integrated version of the estimate with $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ replaced by $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v`$.

###### Lemma 6.4.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V2)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30) then, for every $`s`$,

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _0^1\left(\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2\right)𝑑t\hfill \\ & +_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}_0^1\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2)\hfill \\ & CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v).\hfill \end{array}$$
(40)
###### Corollary 6.5.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V2)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), then

$$_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}_0^1\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for every $`s`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`{}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ this estimate follows immediately from Lemma 6.4. ∎

###### Proof of Lemma 6.4..

Define the functions $`f,g:\times S^1`$ by

$$f:=\frac{1}{2}\left(\left|_su\right|^2+\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2\right)$$

and

$$g:=\frac{1}{2}\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2),$$

and abbreviate

$$F(s):=_0^1f(s,t)𝑑t,G(s):=_0^1g(s,t)𝑑t.$$

Recall the definition of $`L_\epsilon :=\epsilon ^2_s^2+_t^2_s`$ and $`_\epsilon :=\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_s`$ in the proof of Proposition 5.2. Then

$$L_\epsilon f=2g+U+\epsilon ^2V,U:=_su,_\epsilon _su,V:={}_{s}{}^{}v,_\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v.$$
(41)
We shall prove that $`U`$ and $`V`$ satisfy the pointwise inequality

$$|U|+\epsilon ^2|V|\mu f+\frac{1}{2}\left(g+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2\right)$$
(42)
for a suitable constant $`\mu >0`$. Inserting this inequality in (41) gives

$$L_\epsilon f+\mu f+Fg+\frac{1}{2}(gG).$$

Now integrate over the interval $`0t1`$ to obtain

$$\epsilon ^2F^{\prime \prime }F^{}+(\mu +1)FG.$$

With this understood the result follows from Lemmas B.3 and B.6.

To prove (42) we observe that, by (9),

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon _su& =\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}({}_{t}{}^{}v+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u))+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}({}_{t}{}^{}v+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u))\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]v+[{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}]v{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^2\left({}_{_su}{}^{}R\right)(_su,_tu)vR(_su,_tu)v\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v+\epsilon ^2R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u).\hfill \end{array}$$
(43)
Now fix a sufficiently small constant $`\delta >0`$ and choose $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that the assertion of Lemma 6.3 (i) holds. Choose $`C>0`$ such that the assertion of Theorem 5.1 holds and assume $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0\delta /C`$. Then, by Theorem 5.1 and Lemma 6.3, we have

$$\epsilon ^2_su_{\mathrm{}}\delta ,\epsilon ^3{}_{s}{}^{}v_{\mathrm{}}\delta ,v_{\mathrm{}}C,\epsilon _tu_{\mathrm{}}2\delta .$$
(44)
The last estimate uses the identity $`_tu=v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$. Now take the pointwise inner product of (43) with $`_su`$ and estimate the resulting seven expressions separately. By (44) and $`(V1)`$, the terms four, five, and six are bounded by the right hand side of (42). For the last term we find, by $`(V2)`$,

$`\epsilon ^2\left|_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$ $`\epsilon ^2C\left|_su\right|\left(\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}\right)`$
$`+\epsilon ^2C\left|_su\right|\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}\right)^2`$
$`\epsilon ^2C\left|_su\right|\left(\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}\right)`$
$`+2C\delta \left|_su\right|\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}\right)`$
$`\mu f+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}\left(g+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2\right).`$
For the first three terms on the right in (43) we argue as follows. Differentiate the equation $`v=_tu+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ covariantly with respect to $`s`$ to obtain

$${}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,_tu=v\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v.$$
(45)
Now express half the first term on the right in (43) in the form

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^2_su,R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2_su,R(_su,v){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+\epsilon ^4_su,R(_su,v){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^4_su,R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\epsilon ^6_su,R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^6_su,R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\epsilon ^8_su,R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here we have replaced $`_tu`$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ by the expressions in (45). In the first two terms we eliminate one of the factors $`_su`$ by using the inequality $`\epsilon ^2|_su|\delta `$ and in the last four terms we eliminate both factors $`_su`$ by the same inequality. The next two terms in our expression for $`U`$ have the form

$$\epsilon ^2_su,\left({}_{_su}{}^{}R\right)(_su,_tu)v_su,R(_su,_tu)v.$$

Replace $`_tu`$ by the expression in (45) and elimate in each of the resulting summands one or two of the factors $`\epsilon ^2_su`$ as above. This proves the required estimate for $`U`$ and $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$.

To estimate $`V`$ we observe that, by (9),

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v& ={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}(\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}vv)+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v+{}_{t}{}^{}([{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}]v)\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}(_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)){}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu)v)\hfill \\ & =R(_su,_tu)_su+R(_su,_tu)\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u){}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu)v)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & =2R(_su,_tu)_su+R(_su,_tu)\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & \left({}_{_tu}{}^{}R\right)(_su,_tu)vR({}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)vR(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u).\hfill \end{array}$$
(46)
The last step uses the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}v=_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)`$. Now take the pointwise inner product with $`\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$. Then the first term has the same form as the one dicussed above. In the second and fourth term we estimate $`\epsilon |_tu|`$ by $`2\delta `$ and we use $`(V0)`$. For the last term we find, by $`(V2)`$,

$`\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$ $`\epsilon ^2C|{}_{s}{}^{}v|\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+|_su|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}`$
$`+\left|_tu\right|\left(\right|_su|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}))`$
$`\epsilon ^2C\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|\left(\left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|+\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}\right)`$
$`+2\epsilon C\delta \left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|\left(\left|_su\right|+_su_{L^2(S^1)}\right)`$
$`\mu f+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}\left(g+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2\right).`$
This leaves the terms three and five. In the third term we estimate $`\epsilon ^2|_tu|^2`$ by $`4\delta ^2`$ and use the identity

$${}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v$$

of (45). For term five we use the identity

$${}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u={}_{t}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v)=_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v$$

to obtain the expression

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v,R(_su,_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v)v\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v,R(_su,\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u))v\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}v,R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v)v.\hfill \end{array}$$

In the last summand we use the estimate $`\epsilon ^2|_su|\delta `$. This proves (42) for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$. For $`\epsilon _0\epsilon 1`$ the estimate (42) follows immediately from (43), (46), and Lemma 6.3 (ii). ∎

The third step in the proof of Theorem 6.1 is to estimate the summand $`\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2`$ in (42) in terms of the energy. This is the content of the following lemma.

###### Lemma 6.6.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30) then, for every $`s`$,

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _0^1\left(\epsilon ^2\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^6|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2)\hfill \\ & CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v).\hfill \end{array}$$
(47)
###### Proof.

Define $`f_1`$ and $`g_1`$ by

$$2f_1:=|_su|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2,$$

$`2g_1`$ $`:=|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
$`+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2`$
$`+\epsilon ^6|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^6|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
and abbreviate $`F_1(s):=_0^1f_1(s,t)𝑑t`$ and $`G_1(s):=_0^1g_1(s,t)𝑑t`$. Then

$$L_\epsilon f_1=2g_1+U+\epsilon ^2V+\epsilon ^2U_t+\epsilon ^4U_s+\epsilon ^4V_t$$
(48)
where $`U:=_su,_\epsilon _su`$ and $`V:={}_{s}{}^{}v,_\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v`$ as in Lemma 6.4 and

$$U_t:={}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,U_s:={}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,$$

$$V_t:={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,_\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v.$$

We shall prove the estimate

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \left|U\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|V\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|U_t\right|+\epsilon ^4\left|U_s+V_t\right|\hfill \\ & \mu f_1+\frac{1}{2}(g_1+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^8{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2)\hfill \\ & \mu f_1+F_1+g_1+G_1\hfill \end{array}$$
(49)
for a suitable constant $`\mu >0`$. By (48) and (49), $`L_\epsilon f_1+\mu f_1+F_1g_1G_1.`$ Integrating this inequality over the interval $`0t1`$ gives

$$\epsilon ^2F_1^{\prime \prime }F_1^{}+(\mu +1)F_10.$$

Hence it follows from Lemma B.3 with $`r:=1/5`$ that

$$F_1(s)c_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}F_1(\sigma )𝑑\sigma c\left(1+\frac{C\epsilon ^2}{2}\right)E_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v).$$

Here $`c:=250c_2e^{(\mu +1)/25}`$, where $`c_2`$ is the constant of Lemma B.3, and the second inequality follows from Lemma 6.4. Now use Lemma 6.4 again and the identity $`\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{s}{}^{}v{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ to estimate the term $`\epsilon ^6|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$.

It remains to prove (49). For the terms $`\left|U\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|V\right|`$ the estimate was established in (42). To estimate the term $`\epsilon ^2\left|U_t\right|`$ write

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u& ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}_su+\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]_su[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]_su\hfill \\ & ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}_su+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu)_su))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}uR(_su,_tu)_su\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v\right)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu)_su))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}uR(_su,_tu)_su.\hfill \end{array}$$
(50)
The last equation follows from (43). Now take the pointwise inner product with $`\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u`$. We begin by explaining how to estimate the first term. We encounter an expression of the form $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,({}_{_tu}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v`$. Here we can use the identity

$${}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v$$

to obtain an inequality

$$\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|\left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|3g_1$$

By (44) we can estimate the product $`\epsilon ^4\left|_su\right|\left|_tu\right|^2`$ by a small constant. Another expression we encounter is $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v`$; by (44), we have $`\epsilon ^4\left|_tu\right|\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|2\delta ^2`$ and so the expression can be estimated by a small constant times $`g_1`$. Then we encounter the expression $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u){}_{s}{}^{}v`$; here we use the identity

$${}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u={}_{t}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v)=_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v;$$

the crucial observation is that the summand $`_su`$ can be dropped when inserting this formula in $`R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)`$; in the summand $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R(_su,\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)){}_{s}{}^{}v`$ we use $`(V0)`$ and $`\epsilon ^2\left|_su\right|\delta `$; for the summand $`\epsilon ^6{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v){}_{s}{}^{}v`$ we use $`\epsilon ^5\left|_su\right|\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|\delta ^2`$ and $`\epsilon |{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u||{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|Cg_1`$. The last expression we encounter is $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$; here we use $`\epsilon ^3\left|_su\right|\left|_tu\right|2\delta ^2`$, by (44), and again $`\epsilon |{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u||{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|Cg_1`$. This deals with the first term; the next two terms can be estimated by the same method.

In the fourth term we encounter the expression $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v`$; here we use $`\epsilon \left|_tu\right|2\delta `$ and $`\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u||{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|Cg_1`$. Another expression is $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}v`$; here we use $`{}_{t}{}^{}v=_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)`$ and the inequalities $`\epsilon ^3\left|_su\right|\left|_tu\right|2\delta ^2`$ and $`\epsilon \left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|Cg_1`$. A third expression is $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v`$; here we use the formula

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u& =\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}({}_{t}{}^{}v+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u))+{}_{t}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v)\hfill \\ & =_su+\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu)v\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u);\hfill \end{array}$$
(51)
so the curvature term can be estimated by

$$\left|R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)\right|C\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|\left(1+\left|_su\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|_su\right|\left|_tu\right|\right).$$
(52)
This completes the discussion of the fourth term. The fifth term is similar, except that the cubic expression in the second derivatives vanishes. The last three terms can be disposed off similarly; the only new expression that appears is $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)_su`$; here we use $`_tu=v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ and the inequalities $`\epsilon ^2\left|_su\right|\delta `$ as well as $`\left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|\left|_su\right|g_1+f_1`$ and $`\left|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\right|\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|3g_1`$.

This leaves the terms involving $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱`$. For $`\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)`$ we use $`(V2)`$ and for $`\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)`$ we use $`(V3)`$. Both terms can be estimated by $`C\epsilon (f_1+g_1+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2)`$. This completes the estimate of $`\epsilon ^2\left|U_t\right|`$.

To estimate the term $`\epsilon ^4\left|U_s+V_t\right|`$ write

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u& ={}_{s}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}_su+[{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}]_su\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}_su\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)_su\right)R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\left(({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\left(R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v\right)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\left(R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)_su\right)R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \end{array}$$
(53)
(where the last equation follows from (43)) and

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v& ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]{}_{s}{}^{}v[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}vR(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & =2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)_su\right)+{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}\left(({}_{_tu}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}\left(R({}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v\right){}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}vR(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \end{array}$$
(54)
(where the last equation follows from (46)). The terms that require special attention are those involving $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱`$ and the cubic terms in the second derivatives. The cubic terms in the second derivatives are

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill U_{s0}& :=2\epsilon ^6{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v,\hfill \\ \hfill V_{t0}& :=2\epsilon ^4{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,R({}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)v.\hfill \end{array}$$

Now insert

$${}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u={}_{s}{}^{}({}_{t}{}^{}v+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)),{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u={}_{t}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v)$$

into $`U_{s0}`$ and $`V_{t0}`$, respectively. Then the only difficult remaining terms are the ones involving again three second derivatives. After replacing $`{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v`$ by $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+R(_su,_tu)v`$ we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill U_{s1}& :=2\epsilon ^6{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v,\hfill \\ \hfill V_{t1}& :=2\epsilon ^6{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)v.\hfill \end{array}$$

The sum is

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill U_{s1}+V_{t1}& =2\epsilon ^6{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^6{}_{s}{}^{}(_su{}_{t}{}^{}v)+R(_su,_tu)v,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^6{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+R(_su,_tu)v,R({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \end{array}$$

and can be estimated in the required fashion.

The terms involving $`\mathrm{grad}𝒱`$ can be estimated by

$`\epsilon ^6\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|+\epsilon ^4\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$
$`+\epsilon ^4\left|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|+\epsilon ^4\left|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right|`$
$`C\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|\left(\epsilon ^4\right|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+|_su\left|\right)`$
$`+C\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|(\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}+_su_{L^2(S^1)})`$
$`+C\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|\left(\epsilon ^2\right|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+\epsilon |{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|+|_su|+_su_{L^2(S^1)})`$
$`+C\epsilon ^4|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
$`\mu f_1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}(g_1+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^8{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2).`$
Here the first inequality follows from $`(V13)`$; it also uses the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u=_su{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ and the fact that $`\epsilon ^2\left|_su\right|`$ and $`\epsilon \left|_tu\right|`$ are uniformly bounded (Lemma 6.3). All the other summands appearing in our expression for $`\epsilon ^4\left|U_s+V_t\right|`$ can be estimated by the same arguments as for $`\epsilon ^2\left|U_t\right|`$. This implies (49) and completes the proof of Lemma 6.6. ∎

The fourth step in the proof of Theorem 6.1 is to establish the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ estimate with $`{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ replaced by $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v`$.

###### Lemma 6.7.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), i.e. $`E^\epsilon (u,v)c_0`$ and $`sup_s𝒜_𝒱(u(s,),v(s,))c_0`$, then

$$\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2CE_{[s1,s+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)Cc_0$$
(55)
for all $`s`$ and $`t`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`f`$, $`g`$, $`F`$, $`G`$, $`U`$, $`V`$, and $`\mu `$ be as in the proof of Lemma 6.4. Choose a constant $`C>0`$ such that the assertions of Lemmas 6.4 and 6.6 hold with this constant. Then, by (41) and (42), we have

$`L_\epsilon f`$ $`=2g+U+\epsilon ^2V`$
$`\mu f{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2\right)`$
$`\mu fCE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)`$
for all $`(s,t)\times S^1`$. Let $`s_0`$ and denote $`a:=\frac{C}{\mu }E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).`$ Then $`L_\epsilon (f+a)+\mu (f+a)0`$ for $`s_01/2ss_0+1/2`$. Hence we may apply Lemma B.2 with $`r=1/3`$ to the function $`w(s,t):=f(s_0+s,t_0+t)+a`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill f(s_0,t_0)& 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/9\epsilon /3}^{s_0+\epsilon /3}_0^1(f(s,t)+a)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/2}^{s_0+1/2}_0^1\left(\frac{1}{2}\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\frac{\epsilon ^2}{2}\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2+a\right)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & 54c_2e^{\mu /9}\left(E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)+a\right)\hfill \\ & =54c_2e^{\mu /9}\left(1+\frac{C}{\mu }\right)E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).\hfill \end{array}$$

This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 6.1..

Define $`f_2`$ and $`g_2`$ by

$`2f_2`$ $`:=\left|_su\right|^2+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|^2,`$
$`2g_2`$ $`:=|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
and abbreviate $`F_2(s):=_0^1f_2(s,t)𝑑t`$ and $`G_2(s):=_0^1g_2(s,t)𝑑t.`$ Then

$$L_\epsilon f_2=2g_2+U+V$$
(56)
where $`U`$ and $`V`$ are as in Lemma 6.4. These functions satisfy the estimate

$$\left|U\right|+\left|V\right|\mu f_2+\frac{1}{2}\left(g_2+_su_{L^2}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}^2\right)$$
(57)
for a suitable constant $`\mu >0`$; here $`_{L^2}`$ denotes the $`L^2`$-norm over the circle at time $`s`$. This follows from (43) and (46) via term by term inspection. (We use the fact that $`\left|_su\right|`$, $`\epsilon \left|{}_{s}{}^{}v\right|`$, and $`\left|_tu\right|`$ are uniformly bounded, by Lemma 6.7.)

By Lemmas 6.4 and 6.6, we have

$$_0^1\left(\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\epsilon ^4\left|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u(s,t)\right|^2\right)𝑑tCE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for a suitable constant $`C`$ and every $`s`$. Hence it follows from (56) and (57) that

$$L_\epsilon f_2(s,t)\mu f_2(s,t)CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for all $`(s,t)\times S^1`$. Fix a number $`s_0`$ and abbreviate $`a:=\frac{C}{\mu }E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).`$ Then $`L_\epsilon (f_2+a)+\mu (f_2+a)0`$ for $`s_01/2ss_0+1/2`$. Hence we may apply Lemma B.2 with $`r=1/3`$ to the function $`w(s,t):=f_2(s_0+s,t_0+t)+a`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill f_2(s_0,t_0)& 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/9\epsilon /3}^{s_0+\epsilon /3}_0^1(f_2(s,t)+a)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/2}^{s_0+1/2}_0^1\left(\frac{1}{2}\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\frac{1}{2}\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2+a\right)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & c_3\left(E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)+a\right)\hfill \\ & =c_3\left(1+\frac{C}{\mu }\right)E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the third inequality, with a suitable constant $`c_3`$, follows from Corollary 6.5. This proves the pointwise estimate.

To prove the $`L^2`$-estimate integrate (56) and (57) over $`0t1`$ to obtain

$$\epsilon ^2F_2^{\prime \prime }F_2^{}+(\mu +1)F_2G_2$$

for every $`s`$. Hence, by Lemma B.6 with suitable choices of $`R`$ and $`r`$, we have

$$_{1/2}^{1/2}G_2(s)𝑑sc_4_{3/4}^{3/4}F_2(s)𝑑s$$

for every $`s`$ and a constant $`c_4>0`$ that depends only on $`R`$, $`r`$, and $`\mu `$. Now it follows from Corollary 6.5 that

$$_{3/4}^{3/4}F_2(s)𝑑sc_5E_{[s1,s+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for every $`s>0`$ and some constant $`c_5=c_5(c_0,𝒱)>0`$. Hence

$$_{1/2}^{1/2}_0^1\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2)dtds2c_4c_5E_{[s1,s+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).$$

The estimate for $`{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u`$ now follows from the identity

$${}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v+{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+R(_su,_tu)v+{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u).$$

This proves Theorem 6.1. ∎

## 7 Estimates of the second derivatives

###### Theorem 7.1.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30) then

$$\begin{array}{cc}& {}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^p([T,T]\times S^1)}+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^p([T,T]\times S^1)}\hfill \\ & +{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{L^p([T,T]\times S^1)}+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{L^p([T,T]\times S^1)}\hfill \\ & c\sqrt{E_{[T1,T+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)}\hfill \end{array}$$
(58)
for $`T>1`$ and $`2p\mathrm{}`$.

For $`p=2`$ the estimate, with $`{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ replaced by $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$, was established in Theorem 6.1. The strategy is to prove the estimate for $`p=\mathrm{}`$ and, as a byproduct, to get rid of the factor $`\epsilon `$ for $`p=2`$ (see Corollary 7.3 below). The result for general $`p`$ then follows by interpolation.

###### Lemma 7.2.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), then

$`{\displaystyle _0^1}\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u(s,t)|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u(s,t)|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)|^2)dt`$
$`+{\displaystyle _{s1/4}^{s+1/4}}{\displaystyle _0^1}\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2)`$
$`+{\displaystyle _{s1/4}^{s+1/4}}{\displaystyle _0^1}\left(\right|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2)`$
$`CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)`$
for every $`s`$.

###### Corollary 7.3.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), then

$$_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}_0^1|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for every $`s`$.

###### Proof.

Since

$${}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v=R(_su,_tu)_su+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v$$

this estimate follows immediately from Lemma 7.2. ∎

###### Proof of Lemma 7.2..

Define $`f_3`$ and $`g_3`$ by

$$2f_3:=|_su|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2$$

and

$`2g_3`$ $`:=|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
$`+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2`$
$`+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
and abbreviate

$$F_3(s):=_0^1f_3(s,t)𝑑t,G_3(s):=_0^1g_3(s,t)𝑑t.$$

Then

$$L_\epsilon f_3=2g_3+U+V+U_t+U_s+V_t+\epsilon ^2V_s$$
(59)
where $`U`$, $`V`$, $`U_t`$, $`U_s`$, $`V_t`$, and $`V_s`$ are as in Lemma 6.6. These functions satisfy the estimate

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \left|U\right|+\left|V\right|+\left|U_t\right|+\left|U_s+V_t\right|+\epsilon ^2\left|V_s\right|\hfill \\ & \mu f_3+\frac{1}{2}(g_3+_su_{L^2}^2+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}^2)\hfill \\ & \mu f_3+F_3+\frac{1}{2}(g_3+G_3)\hfill \end{array}$$
(60)
for a suitable constant $`\mu >0`$; here $`_{L^2}`$ denotes the $`L^2`$-norm over the circle at time $`s`$. For $`U`$ and $`V`$ this follows from (60) in the proof of Theorem 6.1. For $`U_t`$ this follows from (50) and for $`U_s+V_t`$ from (53) and (54) by the same arguments as in the proof of Lemma 6.6. The improved estimate (60) follows by combining these arguments with Theorem 6.1. For $`V_s`$ we use the formula

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v& ={}_{s}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+[{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}]{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v))R(_su,_tu)_t_sv\hfill \\ & =2{}_{s}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)_su\right)+{}_{s}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}\left(({}_{_tu}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}\left(R({}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v\right){}_{s}{}^{}\left(R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v))R(_su,_tu)_t_sv.\hfill \end{array}$$
(61)
(The last equation uses (46).) The desired estimate now follows from a term by term inspection; since all the first derivatives are uniformly bounded, by Theorem 6.1, we only need to examine the second and third derivatives; in particular, the cubic term $`\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v`$ can be estimated by $`C\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v||{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|`$ (see (52) in the proof of Lemma 6.6).

It follows from (59) and (60) that

$$L_\epsilon f_3+\mu f_3+F_3g_3+\frac{1}{2}(g_3G_3).$$

Integrating this inequality over the interval $`0t1`$ gives

$$\epsilon ^2F_3^{\prime \prime }F_3^{}+(\mu +1)F_3G_3.$$

By Theorem 6.1 and Corollary 6.5 we have

$$_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}F_3(s)𝑑sCE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for a suitable constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$. Hence the estimate for the second derivatives follows from Lemma B.3 with $`r:=1/5`$. The estimate for the third derivatives follows from Lemma B.6. ∎

###### Lemma 7.4.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Then there is a constant $`c=c(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), then

$`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_L^{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_L^{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_L^{\mathrm{}}`$
$`+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v_L^{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_L^{\mathrm{}}+\epsilon ^3{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_L^{\mathrm{}}c.`$
###### Proof.

For every solution $`(u,v)`$ of (9) define

$$\stackrel{~}{u}(s,t):=u(\epsilon s,t),\stackrel{~}{v}(s,t):=\epsilon v(\epsilon s,t).$$

Then

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}{}_{t}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}=\epsilon \mathrm{grad}𝒱(\stackrel{~}{u}),{}_{s}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{v}+_t\stackrel{~}{u}=\frac{\stackrel{~}{v}}{\epsilon }.$$
(62)
By Theorem 6.1, Lemma 7.2, and $`(V0V3)`$, the function $`\stackrel{~}{w}:=(\stackrel{~}{u},\stackrel{~}{v})`$ and the vector field

$$\zeta (s,t):=(\epsilon 𝒱(u(\epsilon s,))(t),v(\epsilon s,t))$$

along $`\stackrel{~}{w}`$ are both uniformly bounded in $`W^{3,2}`$ (under the assumption (30)); here we use the identities

$`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ $`=_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,`$
$`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ $`={}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,`$
$`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v`$ $`={}_{s}{}^{}v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u),`$
$`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v`$ $`={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u).`$
It follows that $`\stackrel{~}{w}`$ and $`\zeta `$ are both uniformly bounded in $`W^{2,p}`$ for any $`p>2`$. Since

$$_s\stackrel{~}{w}+J(\stackrel{~}{w})_t\stackrel{~}{w}=\zeta $$

it follows from \[14, Proposition B.4.9\] that $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{v}`$ are uniformly bounded in $`W^{3,p}`$ and hence in $`C^2`$. This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma 7.5.

Fix a constant $`c_0>0`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$ and $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ is a solution of (9) that satisfies (30), then

$$_0^1\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u(s,t)|^2dtCE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for every $`s`$.

###### Proof.

Define $`f_4`$ and $`g_4`$ by

$$2f_4:=|_su|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2,$$

$`2g_4`$ $`:=|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
$`+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2,`$
and abbreviate $`F_4(s):=_0^1f_4(s,t)𝑑t`$ and $`G_4(s):=_0^1g_4(s,t)𝑑t.`$ Then

$$L_\epsilon f_4=2g_4+U+V+U_t+U_{tt},$$
(63)
where $`U`$, $`V`$, $`U_t`$ are as in Lemma 6.6 and $`U_{tt}:={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u.`$ We shall prove that there is a constant $`\mu >0`$ such that

$$\left|U\right|+\left|V\right|+\left|U_t\right|+\left|U_{tt}\right|\mu f_4+\frac{1}{2}\left(g_4+_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2\right)$$
(64)
It follows from (63) and (64) that

$$L_\epsilon f_4+\mu f_4+F_4g_4+\frac{1}{2}(g_4G_4).$$

Integrating this inequality over the interval $`0t1`$ gives

$$\epsilon ^2F_4^{\prime \prime }F_4^{}+(\mu +1)F_40.$$

By Theorem 6.1 and Lemma 7.2, we have

$$_{s1/4}^{s+1/4}F_4(\sigma )𝑑\sigma cE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for a suitable constant $`c=c(c_0,𝒱)`$. Hence, by Lemma B.3 with $`r=1/5`$, there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)`$ such that $`F_4(s)CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)`$ for every $`s`$; this gives

$$_0^1|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u(s,t)|^2dtCE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v).$$

Now use (43) and

$$\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u=_\epsilon _su{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u$$

to get the required estimate for $`\epsilon ^4|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|`$.

For $`U`$ and $`V`$ the estimate (64) was established in the proof of Theorem 6.1; for $`U_t`$ it follows from (50) via the arguments used in the proof of Lemma 6.6. For $`U_{tt}`$ we use the identity

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u& ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u+\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & ={}_{t}{}^{}_{\epsilon }^{}_su+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}uR(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =2\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\left(({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)v\right)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v\right)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)v\right)\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu)_su))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u){}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(_su,_tu)_su\right)\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}(R(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}uR(_su,_tu){}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u.\hfill \end{array}$$
(65)
Here the last equation follows from (50). To establish (64) we now use the pointwise estimates on the first derivatives in Theorem 6.1 and the pointwise estimates on the second derivatives in Lemma 7.4. The term by term analysis shows that all the second, third, and fourth order factors appear with the appropriate powers of $`\epsilon `$. This proves (64) and the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 7.1..

For $`p=2`$ the estimate (58) follows from Theorem 6.1 and Corollary 7.3. To prove it for $`p=\mathrm{}`$ define $`f_5`$ and $`g_5`$ by

$$2f_5:=|_su|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2$$

and

$`2g_3`$ $`:=|{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2`$
$`+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u|^2`$
$`+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+|{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2+\epsilon ^2|{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v|^2.`$
Then

$$L_\epsilon f_5=2g_5+U+V+U_t+U_s+V_t+V_s$$
(66)
where $`U`$, $`V`$, $`U_t`$, $`U_s`$, $`V_t`$, and $`V_s`$ are as in Lemma 6.6. These functions satisfy the estimate

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \left|U\right|+\left|V\right|+\left|U_t\right|+\left|U_s+V_t\right|+\left|V_s\right|\hfill \\ & \mu f_5+g_5+_su_{L^2}^2+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2}^2\hfill \end{array}$$
(67)
for all $`(s,t)\times S^1`$ and a suitable constant $`\mu >0`$. To see this one argues as in the proof of Lemma 7.2 and notices that the factor $`\epsilon ^2`$ in front of $`\left|V_s\right|`$ is no longer needed. (It can now be dropped since, by Corollary 7.3, the $`L^2`$-norm of $`f_5`$ is controlled by the energy.)

By (66) and (67), we have

$`L_\epsilon f_5+\mu f_5`$ $`_su_{L^2(S^1)}^2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{L^2(S^1)}^2`$
$`CE_{[s1/2,s+1/2]}^\epsilon (u,v)`$
for every $`s`$ and suitable positive constants $`\mu `$ and $`C`$. Here the last inequality follows from Lemmas 7.2 and 7.5. Let $`s_0`$ and denote

$$a:=\frac{C}{\mu }E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).$$

Then

$$L_\epsilon (f_5+a)+\mu (f_5+a)0$$

for $`s_01/2ss_0+1/2`$. Hence we may apply Lemma B.2 with $`r=1/3`$ to the function $`w(s,t):=f_6(s_0+s,t_0+t)+a`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill f_5(s_0,t_0)& 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/9\epsilon /3}^{s_0+\epsilon /3}_0^1\left(f_5(s,t)+a\right)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & 54c_2e^{\mu /9}_{s_01/2}^{s_0+1/2}_0^1\left(f_5(s)+a\right)𝑑t𝑑s\hfill \\ & c_3\left(E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)+a\right)\hfill \\ & =c_3\left(1+\frac{C}{\mu }\right)E_{[s_01,s_0+1]}^\epsilon (u,v).\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the third inequality, with a suitable constant $`c_3=c_3(c_0,𝒱)>0`$, follows from Theorem 6.1 and Corollaries 6.5 and 7.3. This proves (58) for $`p=\mathrm{}`$. To prove the result for general $`p`$ we apply the interpolation inequality

$$\xi _{L^p}\xi _L^{\mathrm{}}^{12/p}\xi _{L^2}^{2/p}$$

to the terms on the left hand side of the estimate and use the results for $`p=2`$ and $`p=\mathrm{}`$. This proves the theorem. ∎

## 8 Uniform exponential decay

###### Theorem 8.1.

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Suppose $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and let $`a`$ be a regular value of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Then there exist positive constants $`\delta ,c,\rho `$ such that the following holds. If $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$, $`0<\epsilon 1`$, $`T_0>0`$, and $`(u,v)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ satisfies

$$E_{[T_0,T_0]}^\epsilon (u,v)<\delta ,$$
(68)
then

$$E_{[T,T]}^\epsilon (u,v)ce^{\rho (TT_0)}E_{[T_0,T_0]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$

for every $`TT_0+1`$.

###### Corollary 8.2.

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V3)`$. Suppose $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and let $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$. Then there exist positive constants $`\delta ,c,\rho `$ such that the following holds. If $`0<\epsilon 1`$, $`T_0>0`$, and $`(u,v)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ satisfies (68) then

$$\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2ce^{\rho |s|}E_{[T_0,T_0]}^\epsilon (u,v)$$
(69)
for every $`|s|T_0+2`$.

###### Proof.

Theorem 6.1 and Theorem 8.1. ∎

The proof of Theorem 8.1 is based on the following two lemmas.

###### Lemma 8.3 (The Hessian).

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V2)`$. Suppose $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and fix $`a`$. Then there are positive constants $`\delta _0`$ and $`c`$ such that the following is true. If $`x_0𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ and $`(x,y)C^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,TM)`$ satisfy

$$x=\mathrm{exp}_{x_0}(\xi _0),y=\mathrm{\Phi }(x_0,\xi _0)(_tx_0+\eta _0),\xi _0_{W^{1,2}}+\eta _0_{\mathrm{}}\delta _0,$$

then

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \xi _2+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _2+\eta _2+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _2\hfill \\ & c\left({}_{t}{}^{}\eta +R(\xi ,_tx)y+_𝒱(x)\xi _2+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _2\right)\hfill \end{array}$$

for all $`\xi ,\eta \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

The operator

$$A^\epsilon (x,y)(\xi ,\eta ):=({}_{t}{}^{}\eta R(\xi ,_tx)y_𝒱(x)\xi ,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta )$$

on $`L^2(S^1,x^{}TMx^{}TM)`$ with dense domain $`W^{1,2}(S^1,x^{}TMx^{}TM)`$ is self-adjoint if $`y=_tx`$. In the case $`(x,y)=(x_0,_tx_0)`$ it is bijective, because $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse. Hence the result is a consequence of the open mapping theorem. Since bijectivity is preserved under small perturbations (with respect to the operator norm), the result for general pairs $`(x,y)`$ follows from continuous dependence of the operator family on the pair $`(x,y)`$ with respect to the $`W^{1,2}`$-topology on $`x`$ and the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$-topology on $`y`$. The set $`𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ is finite, because $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse (see ). Hence we may choose the same constants $`\delta _0`$ and $`c`$ for all $`x_0𝒫^a(𝒱)`$. ∎

###### Lemma 8.4.

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0)`$. Suppose $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and let $`a`$ be a regular value of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Then, for every $`\delta _0>0`$, there is a constant $`\delta _1>0`$ such that the following is true. If $`(x,y):S^1TM`$ is a smooth loop such that

$$𝒜_𝒱(x,gy)a,{}_{t}{}^{}y+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)_{\mathrm{}}+_txy_{\mathrm{}}<\delta _1,$$

then there is a periodic orbit $`x_0𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ and a pair of vector fields $`\xi _0,\eta _0\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x_{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{}TM)`$ such that

$$x=\mathrm{exp}_{x_0}(\xi _0),y=\mathrm{\Phi }(x_0,\xi _0)(_tx_0+\eta _0),$$

and

$$\xi _0_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_{\mathrm{}}+\eta _0_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{0}^{}_{\mathrm{}}\delta _0.$$

###### Proof.

First note that

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \frac{1}{2}_0^1\left|y(t)\right|^2& =𝒜_𝒱(x,gy)+𝒱(x)_0^ty(t),\dot{x}(t)y(t)𝑑t\hfill \\ & a+C+_0^1\left(\frac{1}{4}\left|y(t)\right|^2+\left|\dot{x}(t)y(t)\right|^2\right)𝑑t,\hfill \end{array}$$

where $`C`$ is the constant in $`(V0)`$. Hence, assuming $`\delta _11`$, we have

$$y_2^24\left(a+C+1\right).$$

Now

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \left|\frac{d}{dt}\left|y\right|^2\right|& =\left|2y,{}_{t}{}^{}y+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)2y,\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)\right|\hfill \\ & 2\left(\delta _1+C\right)\left|y\right|\left(C+1\right)^2+\left|y\right|^2.\hfill \end{array}$$

Integrate this inequality to obtain

$$\left|y(t_1)\right|^2\left|y(t_0)\right|^2\left(C+1\right)^2+y_2^2$$

for $`t_0,t_1[0,1]`$. Integrating again over the interval $`0t_01`$ gives

$$y_{\mathrm{}}\sqrt{\left(C+1\right)^2+2y_2^2}c$$
(70)
where $`c^2:=\left(C+1\right)^2+8\left(a+C+1\right)`$.

Now suppose that the assertion is wrong. Then there is a $`\delta _0>0`$ and a sequence of smooth loops $`(x_\nu ,y_\nu ):S^1TM`$ satisfying

$$𝒜_𝒱(x_\nu ,gy_\nu )a,\underset{\nu \mathrm{}}{lim}\left({}_{t}{}^{}y_{\nu }^{}+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x_\nu )_{\mathrm{}}+_tx_\nu y_\nu _{\mathrm{}}\right)=0,$$

but not the conclusion of the lemma for the given constant $`\delta _0`$. By (70), we have $`sup_\nu y_\nu _{\mathrm{}}<\mathrm{}`$. Hence $`sup_\nu _tx_\nu _{\mathrm{}}<\mathrm{}`$ and also $`sup_\nu {}_{t}{}^{}y_{\nu }^{}_{\mathrm{}}<\mathrm{}`$. Hence, by the Arzela–Ascoli theorem, there exists a subsequence, still denoted by $`(x_\nu ,y_\nu )`$, that converges in the $`C^0`$-topology. Our assumptions guarantee that this subsequence actually converges in the $`C^1`$-topology. Let $`(x_0,y_0):S^1TM`$ be the limit. Then $`_tx_0=y_0`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}y_{0}^{}+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x_0)=0`$. Hence $`x_0𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ and $`(x_\nu ,y_\nu )`$ converges to $`(x_0,_tx_0)`$ in the $`C^1`$-topology. This contradicts our assumption on the sequence $`(x_\nu ,y_\nu )`$ and hence proves the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 8.1.

To begin with note that $`𝒮_𝒱(x)C_0`$ for every $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$, where $`C_0`$ is the constant in $`(V0)`$. Hence, with $`c_0:=a+C_0,`$ we have

$$x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)𝒮_𝒱(x^{})c_0,𝒮_𝒱(x^{})𝒮_𝒱(x^+)c_0.$$

Let $`C>0`$ be the constant of Theorem 6.1 with this choice of $`c_0`$. Let $`\delta _0`$ and $`c`$ be the constants of Lemma 8.3 and $`\delta _1>0`$ the constant of Lemma 8.4 associated to $`a`$ and $`\delta _0`$. Then choose $`\delta >0`$ such that $`\sqrt{C\delta }\delta _1`$. Below we will shrink the constants $`\delta _1`$ and $`\delta `$ further if necessary.

In the remainder of the proof we will sometimes use the notation $`u_s(t):=u(s,t)`$ and $`v_s(t):=v(s,t)`$. Moreover, $``$ will always denote the $`L^2`$ norm on $`S^1`$ and $`_{\mathrm{}}`$ the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norm on $`S^1`$.

Now let $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$, $`0<\epsilon 1`$, and $`T_0>0`$, and suppose $`(u,v)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ satisfies (68). Then, by Theorem 6.1, we have

$$_su_s_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}_{\mathrm{}}\sqrt{CE_{[s1,s+1]}^\epsilon (u,v)}\sqrt{C\delta }\delta _1$$
(71)
for $`|s|T_0+1`$. Hence, by Lemma 8.4, we know that, for every $`s`$ with $`|s|T_0+1`$, there is a periodic orbit $`x_s𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ such that the $`C^1`$-distance between $`(u_s,v_s)`$ and $`(x_s,_tx_s)`$ is bounded by $`\delta _0`$. Hence we can apply Lemma 8.3 to the pair $`(u_s,v_s)`$ and the vector fields $`(_su_s,{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{})`$ for $`|s|T_0+1`$. Since

$${}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+R(_su,_tu)v+_𝒱(u)_su={}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u{}_{s}{}^{}v=\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,$$

we obtain from Lemma 8.3 that

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _su_s^2+{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_s^2+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}^2+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}^2\hfill \\ & c({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_s^2+\epsilon ^4{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}^2).\hfill \end{array}$$
(72)
for $`|s|T_0+1`$.

Define the function $`F:[0,\mathrm{})`$ by

$$F(s):=\frac{1}{2}_0^1\left(\left|_su(s,t)\right|^2+\epsilon ^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v(s,t)\right|^2\right)𝑑t.$$

We shall prove that

$$F^{\prime \prime }(s)\frac{1}{c}F(s)$$
(73)
for $`|s|T_0+1`$. The proof of (73) is based on the identity

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F^{\prime \prime }(s)& =2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u^2+2\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v^2\hfill \\ & +_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)_𝒱(u){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & +_su,3R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v+_su,({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\hfill \\ & +_su,R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}v)v\epsilon ^2_su,R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v)v\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^2_su,R({}_{s}{}^{}v,v){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u.\hfill \end{array}$$
(74)
Here all norms and inner products are understood in $`L^2(S^1,u_s^{}TM)`$ and we have dropped the subscript $`s`$ for $`u_s`$ and $`v_s`$. The $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of $`v`$ and $`_tu=v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v`$ are uniformly bounded, by Theorems 5.1 and 6.1. Hence there is a constant $`c^{}>0`$ such that

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F^{\prime \prime }(s)& 2{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_s^2+2\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}^2\hfill \\ & c^{}_su_s_{\mathrm{}}\left(_su_s^2+_su_s{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}\right)\hfill \\ & c^{}\epsilon ^2_su_s_{\mathrm{}}(_su_s{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_s)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_s^2+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{s}^{}^2.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the first inequality uses $`(V2)`$. To understand the last step note that, by (71), we have $`_su_s_{\mathrm{}}\sqrt{C\delta }`$ and so the inequality follows from (72), provided that $`\delta >0`$ is sufficiently small. Now use (72) again to obtain (73).

Thus we have proved that $`F^{\prime \prime }(s)\rho ^2F(s)`$ for $`|s|T_0+1`$, where $`\rho :=c^{1/2}`$. Since $`F(s)`$ does not diverge to infinity as $`|s|\mathrm{}`$ it follows by standard arguments (see for example ) that $`F(s)e^{\rho (sT_01)}F(T_0+1)`$ for $`sT_0+1`$ and similarly for $`sT_01`$.

It remains to prove (74). By direct computation,

$$F^{\prime \prime }(s)={}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u^2+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v^2+G(s)+H(s),$$

where

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill G(s)& :=_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}({}_{t}{}^{}v+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u))\hfill \\ & =_su,[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]v+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & =_su,[{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]v+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u){}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & =_su,{}_{s}{}^{}[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]v+[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]{}_{s}{}^{}v+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)\hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}(v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v),{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,\hfill \\ \hfill H(s)& :=\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}(v_tu)\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]_su{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]_su+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}v,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]_su+[{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}]v+{}_{s}{}^{}(_su\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)),{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here all inner products are in $`L^2(S^1,u_s^{}TM)`$; in each formula the fourth step uses integration by parts. The sum is

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill G(s)+H(s)& ={}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u^2+\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v^2\hfill \\ & +_su,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u){}_{s}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u),{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & +_su,3R(_su,_tu){}_{s}{}^{}v+_su,({}_{_su}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)v\hfill \\ & +_su,R(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u)v\hfill \\ & +_su,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)vR(_su,_tu)v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u.\hfill \end{array}$$

To obtain (74) replace $`{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ by $`{}_{s}{}^{}v\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v`$. Moreover, by the first Bianchi identity, the last two terms can be expressed in the form

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _su,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)vR(_su,_tu)v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =_su,R({}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)v+_su,R(v,{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)_tu\hfill \\ & =_su,R(_tu,v){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =_su,R(v_tu,v){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2_su,R({}_{s}{}^{}v,v){}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\hfill \end{array}$$

This proves (74) and the theorem. ∎

## 9 Time shift

The next theorem establishes local surjectivity for the map $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ constructed in Definition 4.4. The idea is to prove that, after a suitable time shift, the pair $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )`$ with $`u^\epsilon =\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi )`$ and $`v^\epsilon =\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi )(_tu+\eta )`$ satisfies the hypothesis $`\zeta \mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}`$ of Theorem 4.3. The neighbourhood, in which the next theorem establishes surjectivity, depends on $`\epsilon `$.

###### Theorem 9.1.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix a regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Fix two constants $`C>0`$ and $`p>1`$. Then there are positive constants $`\delta `$, $`\epsilon _0`$, and $`c`$ such that $`\epsilon _01`$ and the following holds. If $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ is a pair of index difference one,

$$u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱),(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)$$

with $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$, and

$$u^\epsilon =\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ^\epsilon ),$$

where $`\xi ^\epsilon \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$ satisfies

$$\xi ^\epsilon _{\mathrm{}}\delta \epsilon ^{1/2},\xi ^\epsilon _p\delta \epsilon ^{1/2},{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{\epsilon }_pC,$$
(75)
then there is a real number $`\sigma `$ such that

$$(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )=𝒯^\epsilon (u(\sigma +,)),\left|\sigma \right|<c(\xi ^\epsilon _p+\epsilon ^2).$$

###### Proof.

It suffices to prove the result for a fixed pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ of index difference one and a fixed parabolic cylinder $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. (The assumptions and conclusions of the theorem are invariant under simultaneous time shift of $`u`$ and $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )`$; up to time shift there are only finitely many index one parabolic cylinders with $`𝒮_𝒱a`$.) Define

$$c^{}:=𝒮_𝒱(x^{})𝒮_𝒱(x^+)>0.$$

Let $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ with $`\epsilon (0,1]`$. Denote the time shift of $`u`$ by

$$u_\sigma (s,t):=u(s+\sigma ,t)$$

for $`\sigma `$ and define $`\zeta =\zeta (\sigma )=(\xi ,\eta )`$ by

$$u^\epsilon =exp_{u_\sigma }(\xi ),v^\epsilon =\mathrm{\Phi }(u_\sigma ,\xi )\left(_tu_\sigma +\eta \right).$$
(76)
The pair $`(\xi ,\eta )`$ is well defined whenever $`\sigma _su_L^{\mathrm{}}+\xi ^\epsilon _L^{\mathrm{}}`$ is smaller than the injectivity radius $`\rho _M`$ of $`M`$ (i.e. when $`\sigma `$ and $`\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}`$ are sufficiently small). We assume throughout that

$$\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}\frac{\rho _M}{2}$$

and choose $`\sigma _0>0`$ so that $`\sigma _0_su_L^{\mathrm{}}<\rho _M/2`$.

By Theorem A.1 and Theorem 5.1, there is a constant $`c_0>0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,1]`$ and every $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$, we have

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_{\mathrm{}}+v^\epsilon _{\mathrm{}}c_0.$$
(77)
It follows from (76) and (77) that $`\eta (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}c_0`$ for every $`\sigma [\sigma _0,\sigma _0]`$. Choose $`\delta _0>0`$ so small that the assertion of the Uniqueness Theorem 4.3 holds with $`C=c_0`$ and $`\delta =\delta _0`$. We shall prove that for every sufficiently small $`\epsilon >0`$ there is a $`\sigma [\sigma _0,\sigma _0]`$ such that

$$\zeta (\sigma )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_{u_\sigma }^\epsilon )^{},\xi (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}\delta _0\epsilon ^{1/2},\eta (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}c_0.$$
(78)
It then follows from Theorem 4.3 that $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )=𝒯^\epsilon (u_\sigma ).`$ The proof of (78) will take five steps and uses the following estimate. Choose $`q>1`$ such that $`1/p+1/q=1`$. Then, by parabolic exponential decay (see Theorem A.2), there is a constant $`c_1>0`$ such that, for $`r=p,q,\mathrm{}`$,

$$_su_r+{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_r+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_r+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_rc_1.$$
(79)
Step 1. For $`\sigma [\sigma _0,\sigma _0]`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small define

$$\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma ):=Z_\sigma ^\epsilon ,\zeta _\epsilon ,$$

where $`\zeta =\zeta (\sigma )`$ is given by (76) and

$$Z^\epsilon :=\left(\begin{array}{c}X^\epsilon \\ Y^\epsilon \end{array}\right):=\left(\begin{array}{c}_su\\ {}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}\xi ^{}\\ \eta ^{}\end{array}\right),$$

$$\zeta ^{}:=\left(\begin{array}{c}\xi ^{}\\ \eta ^{}\end{array}\right):=(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\left(𝒟_u^\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\right)^1𝒟_u^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}_su\\ {}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\end{array}\right).$$

Then $`\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma )=0`$ if and only if $`\zeta \mathrm{im}(𝒟_{u_\sigma }^\epsilon )^{}`$.

For $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small, the operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$ is onto, by Theorem 3.3, and, by assumption, it has index one (see Remark 3.1). Hence $`Z^\epsilon `$ is well defined and belongs to the kernel of $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$. It remains to prove that $`Z^\epsilon 0`$ for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small. To see this note that $`_su0`$ and so the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-norm of the pair $`(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)`$ is bounded below by a positive constant (the parabolic energy identity gives $`c^{}`$ as a lower bound). On the other hand,

$$\zeta ^{}=(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\left(𝒟_u^\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\right)^1\left(\begin{array}{c}0\\ {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u\end{array}\right).$$
(80)
Hence, by Theorem 3.3, the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-norm of $`\zeta ^{}`$ converges to zero as $`\epsilon `$ tends to zero. It follows that $`Z^\epsilon 0`$ for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small and this proves Step 1.

Step 2. There are positive constants $`\epsilon _0`$ and $`c_2`$ such that

$$\left|\theta ^\epsilon (0)\right|c_2\left(\xi ^\epsilon _p+\epsilon ^2\right)$$

for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$ and every $`(u^\epsilon =\mathrm{exp}_u(\xi ^\epsilon ),v^\epsilon )^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ satisfying (75).

We first prove that that there are positive constants $`\epsilon _0`$ and $`c_3`$ such that

$$X^\epsilon _q+Y^\epsilon _qc_3$$
(81)
for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$. For the summands $`_su`$ of $`X^\epsilon `$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ of $`Y^\epsilon `$ this follows from (79) with $`r=q`$. Moreover, by (80) and Theorem 3.3, we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \xi ^{}_q+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta ^{}_q& c_4(\epsilon (0,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)_{0,q,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon (0,{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u)_q)\hfill \\ & c_4\epsilon ^{3/2}(\epsilon ^{1/2}+\kappa _q){}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_q.\hfill \end{array}$$

The last step uses Lemma D.3 with constant $`\kappa _q>1`$. This proves (81). It follows from (81) that

$$\left|\theta ^\epsilon (0)\right|c_3\left(\xi ^\epsilon _p+\epsilon ^2\eta ^\epsilon _p\right),$$
(82)
where $`\eta ^\epsilon \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$ is defined by

$$v^\epsilon =:\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi ^\epsilon )(_tu^\epsilon +\eta ^\epsilon ).$$

Define the linear maps $`E_i(x,\xi ):T_xMT_{exp_x(\xi )}M`$ by the formula

$$\frac{d}{d\tau }exp_x(\xi )=:E_1(x,\xi )_\tau x+E_2(x,\xi ){}_{\tau }{}^{}\xi $$
(83)
for every smooth path $`x:M`$ and every vector field $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(,x^{}TM)`$ along $`x`$. Abbreviate $`\mathrm{\Phi }:=\mathrm{\Phi }(u,\xi ^\epsilon )`$ and $`E_i:=E_i(u,\xi ^\epsilon )`$ for $`i=1,2`$. Then

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \eta ^\epsilon & =\mathrm{\Phi }^1v^\epsilon _tu\hfill \\ & =\mathrm{\Phi }^1(v^\epsilon _tu^\epsilon )+\mathrm{\Phi }^1(E_1_tu+E_2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{\epsilon }^{})_tu\hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^1{}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }+\mathrm{\Phi }^1E_2{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{\epsilon }+(\mathrm{\Phi }^1E_11\mathrm{l})_tu.\hfill \end{array}$$

By Corollary 8.2, there is a constant $`c_5`$ such that $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }_pc_5`$. Moreover, there is a constant $`c_6>0`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Phi }^1E_11\mathrm{l}_pc_6\xi ^\epsilon _p`$. Hence there is another constant $`c_7>0`$ such that

$$\eta ^\epsilon _pc_7\left(\epsilon +{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{\epsilon }_p+\xi ^\epsilon _p\right)c_7\left(\xi ^\epsilon _p+C+1\right).$$

Combining this with (82) proves Step 2.

Step 3. There is a constant $`c_8>0`$ such that

$$\xi (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}+c_8\left|\sigma \right|,\eta (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}c_0,$$

$${}_{s}{}^{}\xi _pc_8,{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi +_su_\sigma _pc_8\left(\left|\sigma \right|+\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}\right),\xi (\sigma )_p\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}+c_8|\sigma |$$

for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$ and $`|\sigma |\sigma _0`$.

For every $`\sigma `$, we have

$$d(u(s+\sigma ,t),u(s,t))L(\gamma )\left|\sigma \right|_su_{\mathrm{}},$$

where $`\gamma (r):=u(s+r\sigma ,t)`$, $`0r1`$. Moreover, by (75), $`d(u(s,t),u^\epsilon (s,t))\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}`$. Hence the first estimate of Step 3 follows from the triangle inequality. The second estimate follows from the identity

$$\eta (\sigma )=\mathrm{\Phi }(u_\sigma ,\xi (\sigma ))^1v^\epsilon _tu_\sigma $$

and (77). To prove the next two estimates we differentiate the identity

$$\mathrm{exp}_{u_\sigma }(\xi (\sigma ))=u^\epsilon $$

with respect to $`\sigma `$ and $`s`$ to obtain

$$E_1(u_\sigma ,\xi )_su_\sigma +E_2(u_\sigma ,\xi ){}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi =0,E_1(u_\sigma ,\xi )_su_\sigma +E_2(u_\sigma ,\xi ){}_{s}{}^{}\xi =_su^\epsilon .$$

By the energy identities the $`L^2`$ norms of $`_su`$ and $`_su^\epsilon `$ are uniformly bounded and hence, so is the $`L^2`$ norm of $`{}_{s}{}^{}\xi `$. Moreover,

$${}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi +_su_\sigma _p=\left(E_2^1E_11\mathrm{l}\right)_su_pc_9\xi (\sigma )_{\mathrm{}}c_{10}\left(\left|\sigma \right|+\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}\right).$$

Hence the $`L^p`$ norm of $`{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi `$ is uniformly bounded. Now differentiate the function $`\sigma \xi (\sigma )_p`$ to obtain the inequality $`\xi (\sigma )_p\xi (0)_p+c_{11}|\sigma |`$. Then the last inequality in Step 3 follows from (75).

Step 4. Shrinking $`\sigma _0`$ and $`\epsilon _0`$, if necessary, we have

$$\frac{d}{d\sigma }\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma )\frac{c^{}}{2}$$

for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$ and $`|\sigma |\sigma _0`$.

We will investigate the two terms in the sum

$$\frac{d}{d\sigma }\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma )=\frac{d}{d\sigma }X_\sigma ^\epsilon ,\xi (\sigma )\epsilon ^2\frac{d}{d\sigma }Y_\sigma ^\epsilon ,\eta (\sigma )$$
(84)
separately. The key term is $`X_\sigma ^\epsilon ,{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi `$. We have seen that $`X_\sigma ^\epsilon `$ is $`L^q`$-close to $`_su_\sigma `$ and $`{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi `$ is $`L^p`$-close to $`_su_\sigma `$. We shall prove that all the other terms are small and hence $`_\sigma \theta ^\epsilon `$ is approximately equal to $`_su_2^2`$. More precisely, for the first term in (84) we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \frac{d}{d\sigma }X_\sigma ^\epsilon ,\xi & =X_\sigma ^\epsilon ,{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi {}_{s}{}^{}X_{\sigma }^{\epsilon },\xi \hfill \\ & =_su_2^2X_\sigma ^\epsilon ,_su_\sigma +{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi \xi ^{},_su_\sigma \hfill \\ & {}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_\sigma ,\xi \xi _\sigma ^{},{}_{s}{}^{}\xi \hfill \\ & _su_2^2c_{12}\left(_su_\sigma +{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi _p+\xi ^{}_q+\xi _p\right)\hfill \\ & _su_2^2c_{13}\left(|\sigma |+\delta \epsilon ^{1/2}+\epsilon ^{3/2}\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the second step follows from integration by parts. The third step uses the inequalities $`X^\epsilon _qc`$ (see (81)), $`_su_p+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_qc`$ (see (79)), and $`{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _pc`$ (see Step 3). The last step uses Step 3 and (9).

To estimate the second term in (84) we differentiate the identity

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(u_\sigma ,\xi (\sigma ))(_tu_\sigma +\eta (\sigma ))=v^\epsilon $$

with respect to $`\sigma `$ to obtain

$${}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_\sigma +{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\eta _pc_{14}\left(_su_p+{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\xi _p\right)c_{15}.$$

In the first inequality we have used the fact that the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of $`\eta (\sigma )`$ and $`_tu_\sigma `$ are uniformly bounded. In the second inequality we have used Step 3. Combining this estimate with (79) we find that the $`L^p`$ norm of $`{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\eta `$ is uniformly bounded. Differentiating the same identity with respect to $`s`$ we obtain

$${}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_\sigma +{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _pc_{16}\left({}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon }_p+_su_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p\right)c_{17}\epsilon ^1.$$

Here the last inequality follows from Step 3 and Corollary 8.2. Using (79) again, we obtain that the $`L^p`$ norm of $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta `$ is uniformly bounded. Now

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \epsilon ^2\frac{d}{d\sigma }Y_\sigma ^\epsilon ,\eta & =\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}Y_{\sigma }^{\epsilon },\eta +\epsilon ^2Y_\sigma ^\epsilon ,{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\eta \hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2Y_\sigma ^\epsilon ,{}_{s}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2Y_\sigma ^\epsilon ,{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\eta \hfill \\ & c_{18}\epsilon .\hfill \end{array}$$

In the last estimate we have used (81) and the uniform estimates on the $`L^p`$ norms of $`{}_{\sigma }{}^{}\eta `$ and $`\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta `$. Putting things together we obtain

$$\frac{d}{d\sigma }\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma )_su_2^2c_{19}\left(|\sigma |+\epsilon ^{1/2}\right).$$

Since $`_su_2^2=c^{}`$, the assertion of Step 4 holds whenever $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$, $`|\sigma |\sigma _0`$, and $`c_{19}(\sigma _0+\epsilon _0^{1/2})c^{}/2`$.

Step 5. We prove Theorem 9.1.

Suppose the pair $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )`$ satisfies the requirements of the theorem with $`\epsilon `$ and $`\delta `$ sufficiently small. Then, by Steps 2 and 4, there is a $`\sigma [\sigma _0,\sigma _0]`$ such that

$$\theta ^\epsilon (\sigma )=0,|\sigma |c_{20}(\xi ^\epsilon _p+\epsilon ^2),c_{20}:=\frac{2c_2}{c^{}}.$$

Let $`\xi :=\xi (\sigma )`$ and $`\eta :=\eta (\sigma )`$. Then, by Step 3,

$$\xi _{\mathrm{}}(\delta +c_8c_{20}(\delta +\epsilon ^{3/2}))\epsilon ^{1/2},\eta _{\mathrm{}}c_0.$$

If $`\delta +c_8c_{20}(\delta +\epsilon ^{3/2})\delta _0`$ then, by Step 1, $`\zeta :=(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{im}(𝒟_{u_\sigma }^\epsilon )^{}`$. Hence, by Theorem 4.3, $`(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )=𝒯^\epsilon (u_\sigma )`$. ∎

## 10 Surjectivity

###### Theorem 10.1.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix a constant $`a`$. Then there is a constant $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$ and every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ of index difference one, the map $`𝒯^\epsilon :^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$, constructed in Definition 4.4, is bijective.

###### Lemma 10.2.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse. Let $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ and $`u_i^{\epsilon _i}(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ where $`\epsilon _i`$ is a sequence of positive real numbers converging to zero. Then there is a pair $`x_0,x_1𝒫(𝒱)`$, a parabolic cylinder $`u^0(x_0,x_1;𝒱)`$, and a subsequence, still denoted by $`(u_i,v_i)`$, such that the following holds.

1. $`(u_i,v_i)`$ converges to $`(u,v)`$ strongly in $`C^1`$ and weakly in $`W^{2,p}`$ on every compact subset of $`\times S^1`$ and for every $`p>1`$. Moreover, $`v_i_tu_i`$ converges to zero in the $`C^1`$ norm on every compact subset of $`\times S^1`$.
2. For all $`s`$ and $`T>0`$,

$`𝒮_𝒱(u(s,))`$ $`=\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}𝒜_𝒱(u_i(s,),v_i(s,)),`$
$`E_{[T,T]}(u)`$ $`=\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}E_{[T,T]}^\epsilon (u_i,v_i).`$

###### Proof.

By Theorems 5.1, 6.1, and 7.1 there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$v_i_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_i_{\mathrm{}}+_su_i_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_{\mathrm{}}c,$$
(85)
$${}_{s}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i_p+{}_{s}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_i_p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_p+{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_pc,$$
(86)
$${}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_{\mathrm{}}c$$
(87)
for every $`i`$ and every $`p[2,\mathrm{}]`$. In (85) the estimate for $`{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$ follows from the one for $`_su_i`$ and the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}=_su_i\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_i)`$. The estimate for $`_tu_i`$ follows from the ones for $`v_i`$ and $`{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$ and the identity $`_tu_i=v_i\epsilon _i^2{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$. In (87) the estimate for $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i`$ follows from the ones for $`{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$ and the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i={}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}\epsilon _i^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$. The estimate for $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$ follows from the ones for $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_i`$ and $`_tu_i`$ and the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}v_{i}^{}={}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_i{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_i)`$.

By (85), (86), and (87) the sequence $`(u_i,v_i)`$ is bounded in $`C^2`$ and hence in $`W^{2,p}([T,T]\times S^1)`$ for every $`T>0`$ and every $`p>1`$. Hence, by the Arzela-Ascoli theorem and the Banach–Alaoglu theorem, a suitable subsequence, still denoted by $`(u_i,v_i)`$, converges strongly in $`C^1`$ and weakly in $`W^{2,p}`$ on every compact subset of $`\times S^1`$ to some $`C^2`$-funtion $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$. By (85) and (86), the sequence

$$v_i_tu_i=\epsilon _i^2{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}$$

converges to zero in the $`C^1`$ norm. Hence $`v=_tu`$. Moreover, the sequence

$$_su_i{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_i)=\epsilon _i^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}$$

converges to zero in the sup-norm, by (86), so the limit $`u:\times S^1M`$ satisfies the parabolic equation (10). By the parabolic regularity theorem A.3, $`u`$ is smooth and so is $`v=_tu`$. This proves (i).

To prove (ii) note that

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill E_{[T,T]}(u)& =_T^T_0^1\left|_su\right|^2𝑑s𝑑t\hfill \\ & =\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}_T^T_0^1\left|_su_i\right|^2𝑑s𝑑t\hfill \\ & =\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}_T^T_0^1\left(\left|_su_i\right|^2+\epsilon _i^2\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}\right|^2\right)𝑑s𝑑t\hfill \\ & =\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}E_{[T,T]}(u_i,v_i)\hfill \end{array}$$

for every $`T`$; here the third identity followws from (85). Hence the limit $`u`$ has finite energy and so belongs to the moduli space $`^0(x_0,x_1;𝒱)`$ for some pair $`x_0,x_1𝒫(𝒱)`$. To prove convergence of the symplectic action at time $`s`$ note that

$$𝒱(u(s,))=\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}𝒱(u_i(s,)),$$

because $`𝒱`$ is continuous with respect to the $`C^0`$ topology on $`M`$. Moreover

$`𝒮_0(u(s,))`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^1}\left|_tu(s,t)\right|^2𝑑t`$
$`=\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle _0^1}\left(_tu_i(s,t),v_i(s,t){\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left|v_i(s,t)\right|\right)𝑑t`$
$`=\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}𝒜_0(u_i(s,),v_i(s,)).`$
Here the second equality follows from the fact that $`_tu_i(s,)`$ and $`v_i(s,)`$ both converge to $`_tu(s,)`$ in the sup-norm. This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma 10.3.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse. Let $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ and $`u_i^{\epsilon _i}(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ where $`\epsilon _i`$ is a sequence of positive real numbers converging to zero. Then there exist periodic orbits $`x^{}=x^0,x^1,\mathrm{},x^{\mathrm{}}=x^+𝒫(𝒱),`$ parabolic cylinders $`u^k^0(x^{k1},x^k;𝒱)`$ for $`k\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$, a subsequence, still denoted by $`(u_i,v_i)`$, and sequences $`s_i^k`$, $`k\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$, such that the following holds.

1. For every $`k\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$ the sequence $`(s,t)(u_i(s_i^k+s,t),v_i(s_i^k+s,t))`$ converges to $`(u^k,_tu^k)`$ as in Lemma 10.2.
2. $`s_i^ks_i^{k1}`$ diverges to infinity for $`k=2,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$ and $`_su^k0`$ for $`k=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$.
3. For every $`k\{0,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$ and every $`\rho >0`$ there is a constant $`T>0`$ such that, for every $`i`$ and every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$,

$$s_i^k+Tss_i^{k+1}Td(u_i(s,t),x^k(t))<\rho .$$

(Here we abbreviate $`s_i^0:=\mathrm{}`$ and $`s_i^{\mathrm{}+1}:=\mathrm{}`$.)

###### Proof.

Denote $`a:=𝒮_𝒱(x^{})`$ and choose $`\rho >0`$ so small that $`d(x(t),x^{}(t))>2\rho `$ for every $`t`$ and any two distinct periodic orbits $`x,x^{}𝒫^a(𝒱)`$. Choose $`s_i^1`$ such that

$$\underset{ss_i^1}{sup}\underset{t}{sup}d(x^{}(t),u_i(s,t))\rho ,\underset{t}{sup}d(x^{}(t),u_i(s_i^1,t))=\rho .$$
(88)
Passing to a subsequence we may assume, by Lemma 10.2, that the sequence $`(u_i(s_i^1+,),v_i(s_i^1+,))`$ converges in the required sense to a parabolic cylinder $`u^1^0(x^0,x^1;𝒱)`$, where $`x^0,x^1𝒫^a(𝒱)`$. By (88), we have $`x^0=x^{}`$ and $`x^1x^0`$. Hence $`_su^10`$ and so $`𝒮_𝒱(x^1)<𝒮_𝒱(x^0)`$. If $`x^1=x^+`$ the lemma is proved. If $`x^1x^+`$ choose $`T>0`$ such that $`d(u^1(s,t),x^1(t))<\rho `$ for every $`t`$ and every $`sT`$. Passing to a subsequence, we may assume that $`d(u_i(s_i^1+T,t),x^1(t))<\rho `$ for every $`t`$. Since $`x^1x^+`$ there exists a sequence $`s_i^2>s_i^1+T`$ such that

$$\underset{s_i^1+Tss_i^2}{sup}\underset{t}{sup}d(x^1(t),u_i(s,t))\rho ,\underset{t}{sup}d(x^1(t),u_i(s_i^2,t))=\rho .$$

The difference $`s_i^2s_i^1`$ diverges to infinity and, by Lemma 10.2, there is a further subsequence such that $`(u_i(s_i^2+,),v_i(s_i^2+,))`$ converges to a parabolic cylinder $`u^2^0(x^1,x^2;𝒱)`$, where $`𝒮_𝒱(x^2)<𝒮_𝒱(x^1)`$. Continue by induction. The induction can only terminate if $`x^{\mathrm{}}=x^+`$. It must terminate because $`𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ is a finite set. This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 10.1..

By Theorem 4.3 the map $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ is injective for $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small. We will prove surjectivity by contradiction.

Assume the result is false. Then there exist periodic orbits $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ of Morse index difference one and sequences $`\epsilon _i>0`$ and $`(u_i,v_i)^{\epsilon _i}(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ such that

$$\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}\epsilon _i=0,(u_i,v_i)𝒯^{\epsilon _i}(^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)).$$
(89)
Applying a time shift, if necessary, we assume without loss of generality that

$$𝒜_𝒱(u_i(0,),v_i(0,))=\frac{1}{2}\left(𝒮_𝒱(x^{})+𝒮_𝒱(x^+)\right).$$
(90)
Fix a constant $`p>2`$. We shall prove in two steps that, after passing to a subsequence if necessary, there is a sequence $`u_i^0^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and a constant $`C>0`$ such that

$$u_i=exp_{u_i^0}(\xi _i),$$

where the sequence $`\xi _i\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,(u_i^0)^{}TM)`$ satisfies

$$\begin{array}{c}\underset{i\mathrm{}}{lim}\epsilon _i^{1/2}\left(\xi _i_{\mathrm{}}+\xi _i_p\right)=0,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{i}^{}_pC.\end{array}$$
(91)
Hence it follows from Theorem 9.1 that, for $`i`$ sufficiently large, there is a real number $`\sigma _i`$ such that $`(u_i,v_i)=𝒯^{\epsilon _i}(u_i^0(\sigma _i+,))`$. This contradicts (89) and hence proves Theorem 10.1.

Step 1. For every $`\delta >0`$ there is a constant $`T_0>0`$ such that

$$E_{[T_0,T_0]}^{\epsilon _i}(u_i,v_i)<\delta $$
(92)
for every $`i`$.

Assume, by contradiction, that the statement is false. Then there is a constant $`\delta >0`$, a sequence of positive real numbers $`T_i\mathrm{}`$, and a subsequence, still denoted by $`(\epsilon _i,u_i,v_i)`$, such that, for every $`i`$,

$$E_{[T_i,T_i]}^{\epsilon _i}(u_i,v_i)𝒮_𝒱(x^{})𝒮_𝒱(x^+)\delta .$$
(93)
Choose a further subsequence, still denoted by $`(u_i,v_i)`$, that converges as in Lemma 10.3 to a finite collection of parabolic cylinders $`u^k^0(x^{k1},x^k;𝒱)`$, $`k=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$, with $`x^{}=x^0,x^1,\mathrm{},x^\mathrm{}1,x^{\mathrm{}}=x^+𝒫(𝒱)`$. We claim that $`\mathrm{}2`$. Otherwise, $`u_i(s_i+,)`$ converges to $`u:=u^1^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ as in Lemma 10.2 (for some sequence $`s_i`$). By (90) and Lemma 10.2 (iv), the sequence $`s_i`$ must be bounded. By (93), this implies that

$$E_{[T,T]}(u)=_T^T_0^1\left|_su\right|^2𝑑t𝑑s𝒮_𝒱(x^{})𝒮_𝒱(x^+)\delta $$

for every $`T>0`$. This contradicts the fact that $`u`$ connects $`x^{}`$ with $`x^+`$. Thus we have proved that $`\mathrm{}2`$ as claimed. Since $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale it follows that the Morse index difference of $`x^{}`$ and $`x^+`$ is at least two. This contradicts our assumption and proves Step 1.

Step 2. For $`i`$ sufficiently large there is a parabolic cylinder $`u_i^0^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and a vector field $`\xi _i\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,(u_i^0)^{}TM)`$ such that $`u_i=exp_{u_i^0}(\xi _i)`$ and $`\xi _i`$ satisfies (91).

Let $`\delta `$, $`c`$ and $`\rho `$ denote the constants in Theorem 8.1 and choose $`T_0>0`$, according to Step 1, such that (92) holds with this constant $`\delta `$. Then, by Corollary 8.2,

$$\left|_su_i(s,t)\right|^2+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}(s,t)\right|^2c_3e^{\rho |s|}E_{[T_0,T_0]}^{\epsilon _i}(u_i,v_i)$$
(94)
for $`|s|T_0+2`$ and a suitable constant $`c_3>0`$. By Theorem 5.1 and Theorem 6.1, there is a constant $`c_4>0`$ such that

$$v_i_{\mathrm{}}+_su_i_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_i_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_{\mathrm{}}c_4$$
(95)
for every $`i`$. Here we have also used the identity $`_tu_i=v_i\epsilon _i^2{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}`$. It follows from (94) and (95) that there is a constant $`c_5c_4`$ such that

$$\left|_su_i(s,t)\right|+\left|{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}(s,t)\right|\frac{c_5}{1+s^2}$$

for every $`(s,t)\times S^1`$ and every $`i`$. Moreover, it follows from Theorem 7.1 that

$$_su_i{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_i)_p=\epsilon _i^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}v_{i}^{}_pc_6\epsilon _i^2.$$

for a suitable constant $`c_6>0`$. Now let $`\delta _0=\delta _0(p,c_5)`$ and $`c=c(p,c_5)`$ be the constants in the parabolic implicit function theorem A.5. Then the function $`u_i`$ satisfies the hypotheses of Theorem A.5, whenever $`c_6\epsilon _i^2<\delta _0`$. Hence, for $`i`$ sufficiently large, there is a parabolic cylinder $`u_i^0^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and a vector field $`\xi _i\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,(u_i^0)^{}TM)`$ such that

$$u_i=exp_{u_i^0}(\xi _i),$$

$$\xi _i_{𝒲_{u_i^0}}c_7_su_i{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_i\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u_i)_pc_6c_7\epsilon _i^2.$$

By the Sobolev embedding theorem, we have

$$\xi _i_{\mathrm{}}c_8\xi _i_{𝒲_{u_i^0}}c_6c_7c_8\epsilon _i^2$$

for large $`i`$. Moreover, by definition of the $`𝒲_{u_i^0}`$-norm we have

$$\xi _i_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{i}^{}_p2\xi _i_{𝒲_{u_i^0}}2c_6c_7\epsilon _i^2.$$

Hence $`\xi _i`$ satisfies (91). This proves Step 2 and the theorem. ∎

###### Corollary 10.4.

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale and fix a regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Then there is a constant $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that, for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0]`$, the following holds.

1. If $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ have index difference less than or equal to zero and $`x^+x^{}`$ then $`^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)=\mathrm{}`$.
2. If $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ have index difference one then

$$\mathrm{\#}^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)/=\mathrm{\#}^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)/.$$
3. If $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ have index difference one and $`(u,v)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ then $`𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$ is surjective.

###### Proof.

Assertion (i) follows from Lemma 10.3. Assertion (ii) follows from Theorems 4.1 and 10.1. Assertion (iii) follows from Theorems 4.1, 3.3, and 10.1. ∎

## 11 Proof of the main result

###### Theorem 11.1.

The assertion of Theorem 1.1 holds with $`_2`$-coefficients.

###### Proof.

Let $`V_t`$ be a potential such that $`𝒮_V`$ is a Morse function on the loop space and denote

$$𝒱(x):=_0^1V_t(x(t))𝑑t.$$

Fix a regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_V`$. Choose a sequence of perturbations $`𝒱_i:M`$, converging to $`𝒱`$ in the $`C^{\mathrm{}}`$ topology, such that $`𝒮_{𝒱_i}:M`$ is Morse–Smale for every $`i`$. We may assume without loss of generality that the perturbations agree with $`𝒱`$ near the critical points and that $`𝒫(𝒱_i)=𝒫(V)`$ for all $`i`$. Let $`\epsilon _i>0`$ be the constant of Corollary 10.4 for $`𝒱=𝒱_i`$. Then, by Corollary 10.4,

$$\mathrm{\#}^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱_i)/=\mathrm{\#}^{\epsilon _i}(x^{},x^+;𝒱_i)/$$

for every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(V)`$ with index difference one. Hence the Floer boundary operator on the chain complex

$$C^a(V;_2):=\underset{x𝒫^a(V)}{}_2x,$$

defined by counting modulo $`2`$ the solutions of (9) with $`𝒱=𝒱_i`$ and $`\epsilon =\epsilon _i`$ agrees with the Morse boundary operator defined by counting the solutions of (10) with $`𝒱=𝒱_i`$. Let us denote the resulting Floer homology groups by $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,𝒱_i,\epsilon _i;_2)`$. Then, by what we have just observed, there is a natural isomorphism

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,𝒱_i,\epsilon _i;_2)\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_{𝒱_i};_2)\mathrm{H}_{}(\{𝒮_{𝒱_i}a\};_2).$$

Here the last isomorphism follows from Theorem A.7. The assertion of Theorem 1.1 with $`_2`$ coefficients now follows from the isomorphisms

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;_2)\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M;𝒱_i,\epsilon _i;_2)$$

and

$$\mathrm{H}_{}(\{𝒮_{𝒱_i}a\};_2)\mathrm{H}_{}(\{𝒮_Va\};_2)$$

for $`i`$ sufficiently large. Here the second isomorphism follows by varying the level $`a`$ and noting that the inclusions $`\{𝒮_Va\}\{𝒮_{𝒱_i}b\}\{𝒮_Vc\}`$ are homotopy equivalences for $`a<b<c`$, $`c`$ sufficiently close to $`a`$, and $`i`$ sufficiently large. To understand the isomorphism on Floer homology, we first recall that the Floer homology groups $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;_2)`$ (for a nonregular Hamiltonian $`H_V`$ and a regular value $`a`$ of the symplectic action $`𝒜_V`$) are defined in terms of almost complex structures $`J`$ and nearby Hamiltonian functions $`H`$, such that $`(J,H)`$ is a regular pair in the sense of Floer; one then defines $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;_2):=\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H,J;_2)`$ and observes that the resulting Floer homology groups are independent of $`J`$ and of the nearby Hamiltonian $`H`$. Now let $`J=J_{\epsilon _i}`$ be the almost complex structure of Remark 1.3 and choose a $`J_{\epsilon _i}`$-regular Hamiltonian $`H=H_V+W`$ with $`W`$ sufficiently close to zero. Then the Floer equation for the pair $`(J_{\epsilon _i},H)`$ can be written in the form

$$_su+{}_{t}{}^{}v=V_t(u)+{}_{1}{}^{}W_{t}^{}(u,v),\epsilon _i^2{}_{s}{}^{}v+_tu=v+{}_{2}{}^{}W_{t}^{}(u,v).$$
(96)
Now the standard Floer homotopy argument can be used to relate the Floer complex associated to (96) to that of

$$_su+{}_{t}{}^{}v=\mathrm{grad}𝒱_i(u),\epsilon _i^2{}_{s}{}^{}v+_tu=v.$$
(97)
This shows that $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;_2)`$ is isomorphic to $`\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,𝒱_i,\epsilon _i;_2)`$ for $`i`$ sufficiently large. This proves Theorem 1.1 with $`_2`$ coefficients. ∎

To prove the result with integer coefficients it remains to examine the orientations of the moduli spaces. The first step is a result about abstract Fredholm operators on Hilbert spaces.

Let $`WH`$ be an inclusion of Hilbert spaces that is compact and has a dense image. Let $`(W,H):sA(s)`$ be a family of bounded linear operators satisfying the following conditions.

1. The map $`sA(s)`$ is continuously differentiable in the norm topology. Moreover, there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$A(s)\xi _H+\dot{A}(s)\xi _Hc\xi _W$$

for every $`s`$ and every $`\xi W`$.
2. The operators $`A(s)`$ are uniformly self-adjoint. This means that, for each $`s`$, the operator $`A(s)`$, when considered as an unbounded operator on $`H`$, is self adjoint, and there is a constant $`c`$ such that

$$\xi _Wc\left(A(s)\xi _H+\xi _H\right)$$

for every $`s`$ and every $`\xi W`$.
3. There are invertible operators $`A^\pm :WH`$ such that

$$\underset{s\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}A(s)A^\pm _{(W,H)}=0.$$
4. The operator $`A(s)`$ has finitely many negative eigenvalues for every $`s`$.

Denote by $`𝒮(W,H)`$ the set of invertible self-adjoint operators $`A:WH`$ with finitely many negative eigenvalues. For $`A𝒮(W,H)`$ denote by $`E(A)`$ the direct sum of the eigenspaces of $`A`$ with negative eigenvalues. Given $`A^\pm 𝒮(W,H)`$ denote by $`𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$ the set of functions $`A:(W,H)`$ that satisfy (A1-4) and by $`𝒫`$ the union of the spaces $`𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$ over all pairs $`A^\pm 𝒮(W,H)`$. This is an open subset of a Banach space.

Denote

$$𝒲:=L^2(,W)W^{1,2}(,H),:=L^2(,H)$$

and, for every pair $`A^\pm 𝒮(W,H)`$ and every $`A𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$, consider the operator $`𝒟_A:𝒲`$ defined by

$$(𝒟_A\xi )(s):=\dot{\xi }(s)+A(s)\xi (s)$$

for $`\xi 𝒲`$. This operator is Fredholm and its index is the spectral flow, i.e.

$$\mathrm{index}(𝒟_A)=dimE(A^{})dimE(A^+)$$

(see Robbin–Salamon ). The formal adjoint operator $`𝒟_A^{}:𝒲`$ is given by $`𝒟_A^{}\eta =\dot{\eta }+A\eta `$. Denote by

$$det(𝒟_A):=\mathrm{\Lambda }^{\mathrm{max}}\left(\mathrm{ker}𝒟_A\right)\mathrm{\Lambda }^{\mathrm{max}}\left(\mathrm{ker}(𝒟_A)^{}\right)$$

the determinant line of $`𝒟_A`$ and by $`\mathrm{Or}(𝒟_A)`$ the set of orientations of $`det(𝒟_A)`$. For $`A𝒮(W,H)`$ denote by $`\mathrm{Or}(A)`$ the set of orientations of $`E(A)`$.

###### Remark 11.2 (The finite dimensional case).

Assume $`W=H=^n`$. Let $`A^\pm `$ be nonsingular symmetric $`(n\times n)`$-matrices and $`A𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$. Suppose that $`A(s)=A^\pm `$ for $`\pm sT`$. Define $`\mathrm{\Phi }(s,s_0)^{n\times n}`$ by

$$_s\mathrm{\Phi }(s,s_0)+A(s)\mathrm{\Phi }(s,s_0)=0,\mathrm{\Phi }(s_0,s_0)=1\mathrm{l}.$$

Define

$$E^\pm (s):=\left\{\xi ^n\right|\underset{r\pm \mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{\Phi }(r,s)\xi =0\}.$$

Then $`E^{}(s)=E(A^{})`$ for $`sT`$ and $`E^+(s)=E(A^+)^{}`$ for $`sT`$. Moreover,

$$\mathrm{ker}𝒟_AE^{}(s)E^+(s),(\mathrm{im}𝒟_A)^{}(E^{}(s)+E^+(s))^{}.$$

Hence there is a natural map

$$\tau _A:\mathrm{Or}(A^{})\times \mathrm{Or}(A^+)\mathrm{Or}(𝒟_A)$$

defined as follows. Given orientations of $`E(A^{})E^{}(s)`$ and $`E(A^+)E^+(s)^{}`$, pick any basis $`u_1,\mathrm{},u_{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`E^{}(s)E^+(s)\mathrm{ker}𝒟_A`$. Extend it to a positive basis of $`E^{}(s)`$ by picking a suitable basis $`v_1,\mathrm{},v_m`$ of $`E^{}(s)E^+(s)^{}`$. Now extend the vectors $`v_j`$ to a positive basis of $`E^+(s)^{}`$ by picking a suitable basis $`w_1,\mathrm{},w_n`$ of $`(E^{}(s)+E^+(s))^{}(\mathrm{im}𝒟_A)^{}`$. Then the bases $`u_1,\mathrm{},u_{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`ker𝒟_A`$ and $`w_1,\mathrm{},w_n`$ of $`(\mathrm{im}𝒟_A)^{}`$ determine the induced orientation of $`det(𝒟_A)`$. Note that this is well defined (a sign change in the $`u_i`$ leads to a sign change in the $`w_k`$).

###### Remark 11.3 (Catenation).

Let $`A_0,A_1,A_2𝒮(W,H)`$ and suppose that $`A_{01}𝒫(A_0,A_1)`$ and $`A_{12}𝒫(A_1,A_2)`$ satisfy

$$A_{01}(s)=\{\begin{array}{cc}A_0\hfill & \text{if }sT,\hfill \\ A_1\hfill & \text{if }sT,\hfill \end{array}A_{12}(s)=\{\begin{array}{cc}A_1\hfill & \text{if }sT,\hfill \\ A_2\hfill & \text{if }sT.\hfill \end{array}$$
(98)
For $`R>T`$ define $`A_{02}^R𝒫(A_0,A_2)`$ by

$$A_{02}^R(s)=\{\begin{array}{cc}A_{01}(s+R)\hfill & \text{if }s0,\hfill \\ A_{12}(sR)\hfill & \text{if }s0.\hfill \end{array}$$
(99)
If $`𝒟_{A_{01}}`$ and $`𝒟_{A_{12}}`$ are onto then, for $`R`$ sufficiently large, the operator $`𝒟_{A_{02}^R}`$ is onto and there is a natural isomorphism

$$S^R:\mathrm{ker}𝒟_{A_{01}}\mathrm{ker}𝒟_{A_{12}}\mathrm{ker}𝒟_{A_{02}^R}$$

The isomorphism $`S^R`$ is defined by composing a pre-gluing operator with the orthogonal projection onto the kernel. That this gives an isomorphism follows from exponential decay estimates for the elements in the kernel and a uniform estimate for suitable right inverses of the operators $`𝒟_{A_{02}^R}`$ (see for example ).

###### Theorem 11.4.

There is a family of maps

$$\tau _A:\mathrm{Or}(A^{})\times \mathrm{Or}(A^+)\mathrm{Or}(𝒟_A),$$

one for each pair of Hilbert spaces $`WH`$ with a compact dense inclusion, each pair $`A^\pm 𝒮(W,H)`$, and each $`A𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$, satisfying the following axioms.

$`\tau _A`$ is equivariant with respect to the $`_2`$-action on each factor.

The map $`(A,o^{},o^+)`$$``$$`(A,\tau _A(o^{},o^+))`$ from the topological space $`\{(A,o^{},o^+)|A𝒫,o^\pm \mathrm{Or}(A^\pm )\}`$ to $`\{(A,o)|A𝒫,o\mathrm{Or}(𝒟_A)\}`$ is continuous.

Let $`\mathrm{\Phi }(s):(W,H)(W^{},H^{})`$ be a family of (pairs of) Hilbert space isomorphisms that is continuously differentiable in the operator norm on $`H`$ and continuous in the operator norm on $`W`$. Suppose that there exist Hilbert space isomorphisms $`\mathrm{\Phi }^\pm :(W,H)(W^{},H^{})`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Phi }(s)`$ converges to $`\mathrm{\Phi }^\pm `$ in the operator norm on both spaces and $`\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}(s)`$ converges to zero in $`(H)`$ as $`s\pm \mathrm{}`$. Then

$$\tau _{\mathrm{\Phi }_{}A}(\mathrm{\Phi }_{}^{}o^{},\mathrm{\Phi }_{}^+o^+)=\mathrm{\Phi }_{}\tau _A(o^{},o^+)$$

for all $`A^\pm 𝒮(W,H)`$, $`A𝒫(A^{},A^+)`$, and $`o^\pm \mathrm{Or}(A^\pm )`$.

If $`A_j^\pm 𝒮(W_j,H_j)`$ and $`A_j𝒫(A_j^{},A_j^+)`$ for $`j=0,1`$ then

$$\tau _{A_0A_1}(o_0^{}o_1^{},o_0^+o_1^+)=\tau _{A_0}(o_0^{},o_0^+)\tau _{A_1}(o_1^{},o_1^+).$$

for all $`o_j^\pm \mathrm{Or}(A_j^\pm )`$.

Let $`A_0,A_1,A_2𝒮(W,H)`$, suppose that $`A_{01}𝒫(A_0,A_1)`$ and $`A_{12}𝒫(A_1,A_2)`$ satisfy (98) and, for $`R>T`$, define $`A_{02}^R`$ by (99). Assume $`𝒟_{A_{01}}`$ and $`𝒟_{A_{12}}`$ are onto. Then $`𝒟_{A_{02}^R}`$ is onto for large $`R`$ and

$$\tau _{A_{02}}(o_0,o_2)=\sigma ^R(\tau _{A_{01}}(o_0,o_1),\tau _{A_{12}}(o_1,o_2)).$$

for $`o_0\mathrm{Or}(A_0)`$, $`o_1\mathrm{Or}(A_1)`$, and $`o_2\mathrm{Or}(A_2)`$. Here the map

$$\sigma ^R:det(𝒟_{A_{01}})\times det(𝒟_{A_{12}})det(𝒟_{A_{02}^R})$$

is induced by the isomorphism $`S^R`$ of Remark 11.3.

If $`A(s)A^+=A^{}`$ and $`o^+=o^{}\mathrm{Or}(A^\pm )`$ then $`\tau _A(o^{},o^+)`$ is the standard orientation of $`det(𝒟_A)`$.

If $`W=H=^n`$ then $`\tau _A`$ is the map defined in Remark 11.2.

The maps $`\tau _A`$ are uniquely determined by the (Homotopy), (Direct Sum), (Constant), and (Normalization) axioms.

Theorem 11.4 is standard with the techniques of  (although the assumptions are not quite the same as in the work of Floer and Hofer).

###### Proof of Theorem 1.1..

Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale. For $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$ denote by $`W^u(x)`$ the unstable manifold of $`x`$ with respect to the negative gradient flow of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Thus $`W^u(x)`$ is the space of all smooth loops $`y:S^1M`$ such that there exists a solution $`u:(\mathrm{},0]\times S^1M`$ of the nonlinear heat equation (3) that converges to $`x`$ as $`s\mathrm{}`$ and satisfies $`u(0,t)=y(t)`$. Then $`W^u(x)`$ is a finite dimensional manifold (see for example ). It is diffeomorphic to $`^k`$ where $`k=\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x)`$ is the Morse index of $`x`$ as a critical point of $`𝒮_𝒱`$. Fix an orientation of $`W^u(x)`$ for every periodic orbit $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$. These orientations determine a system of coherent orientations for the heat flow as follows.

Fix a pair $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ of periodic orbits that represent the same component of $`M`$. Denote by $`𝒫^0(x^{},x^+)`$ the set of smooth maps $`u:\times S^1M`$ such that $`u(s,)`$ converges to $`x^\pm `$ in the $`C^2`$ norm and $`_su(s,)`$ converges to zero in the $`C^1`$ norm as $`s`$ tends to $`\pm \mathrm{}`$. Then, in a suitable trivialization of the tangent bundle $`u^{}TM`$, the linearized operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ has the form of an operator $`𝒟_A`$ as in Theorem 11.4 where the spaces $`E(A^\pm )`$ correspond to the tangent spaces $`T_{x^\pm }W^u(x^\pm )`$ of the unstable manifolds. Hence, by Theorem 11.4, the given orientations of the unstable manifolds determine orientations

$$\nu ^0(u)\mathrm{Or}(det(𝒟_u^0))$$

of the determinant lines for all $`u𝒫^0(x^{},x^+)`$ and all $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$. By the (Naturality) axiom, these orientations are independent of the choice of the trivializations used to define them. By the (Catenation) axiom, they form a system of coherent orientations in the sense of Floer–Hofer .

Next we show how the coherent orientations for the heat flow induce a system of coherent orientations

$$\nu ^\epsilon (u,v)\mathrm{Or}(det(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon ))$$

for the Floer equations (9). Let us denote by $`𝒫(x^{},x^+)`$ the set of smooth maps $`(u,v):\times S^1TM`$ such that $`(u(s,),v(s,))`$ converges to $`(x^\pm ,\dot{x}^\pm )`$ in the $`C^1`$ norm and $`(_su,{}_{s}{}^{}v)`$ converges to zero, uniformly in $`t`$, as $`s`$ tends to $`\pm \mathrm{}`$. By the obvious homotopy arguments it suffices to assume $`u𝒫^0(x^{},x^+)`$ and $`v=_tu`$. We abbreviate

$$𝒟_u^\epsilon :=𝒟_{u,_tu}^\epsilon .$$

It follows from the definition of the operators in (12) that

$$𝒟_u^0\xi =0𝒟_u^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}0\\ {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi +R(\xi ,_su)_tu\end{array}\right).$$

Hence $`𝒟_u^\epsilon (\xi ,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi )`$ is small in the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-norm. If the operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ is onto then the estimate of Theorem 3.3 shows that the map

$$\mathrm{ker}𝒟_u^0\mathrm{ker}𝒟_u^\epsilon :\xi \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \end{array}\right)𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{}\left(𝒟_u^\epsilon 𝒟_{u}^{\epsilon }{}_{}{}^{}\right)^1𝒟_u^\epsilon \left(\begin{array}{c}\xi \\ {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \end{array}\right)$$

is an isomorphism between the kernels and we define $`\nu ^\epsilon (u,_tu)`$ to be the image of $`\nu ^0(u)`$ under the induced isomorphism of the top exterior powers. If $`𝒟_u^0`$ is not onto we obtain a similar isomorphism between the determinant lines of $`𝒟_u^0`$ and $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$ by augmenting the operators first to make them surjective. It follows again from the (Catenation) axiom that the $`\nu ^\epsilon (u,v)`$ form a system of coherent orientations for the Floer equations.

Now assume that $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ have Morse index difference one. Consider the map

$$𝒯^\epsilon :^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱)$$

of Definition 4.4 and recall that, by Theorem 10.1, it is bijective. It follows from the proof of Theorem 9.1 that the map $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ satisfies the following. Let $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and

$$(u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon ):=𝒯^\epsilon (u)^\epsilon (x^{},x^+;𝒱).$$

Then the vector $`_su\mathrm{ker}𝒟_u^0`$ is positively oriented with respect to $`\nu ^0(u)`$ if and only if the vector $`(_su^\epsilon ,{}_{s}{}^{}v_{}^{\epsilon })\mathrm{ker}𝒟_{u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon }^\epsilon `$ is positively oriented with respect to $`\nu ^\epsilon (u^\epsilon ,v^\epsilon )`$. Hence the bijection $`𝒯^\epsilon `$ preserves the signs for the definitions of the two boundary operators. This shows that the Morse complex of the heat flow has the same boundary operator as the Floer complex for $`\epsilon `$ sufficiently small. Hence the resulting homologies are naturally isomorphic, i.e. for every regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ there is a constant $`\epsilon _0>0`$ such that

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,𝒱,\epsilon ;)\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_𝒱;)$$

for $`0<\epsilon \epsilon _0`$. In fact, we have established this isomorphism on the chain level and with integer coefficients. To complete the proof of Theorem 1.1 one can now argue as in the proof of Theorem 11.1 to show that, given a potential $`V`$ such that $`𝒮_V`$ is Morse and a regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_V`$, we have two isomorphisms

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V;)\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,𝒱,\epsilon ;)$$

and

$$\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_𝒱;)\mathrm{H}_{}(\{𝒮_Va\};)$$

for a suitable perturbation $`𝒱`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$ sufficiently small. This proves the result for integer coefficients and $`a<\mathrm{}`$. The argument for general coefficient rings is exactly the same. The result for $`a=\mathrm{}`$ follows by taking the direct limit $`a\mathrm{}`$ and noting that there are natural isomorphisms

$$\mathrm{HF}_{}(T^{}M,H_V)\underset{a}{\underset{}{\mathrm{lim}}}\mathrm{HF}_{}^a(T^{}M,H_V)$$

and

$$\mathrm{H}_{}(M)\underset{a}{\underset{}{\mathrm{lim}}}\mathrm{H}_{}(\{𝒮_Va\}).$$

This proves Theorem 1.1. ∎

## Appendix A The heat flow

In this appendix we summarize results from  that are used in this paper. We assume throughout this appendix that $`M`$ is a closed Riemannian manifold. Let $`𝒱:M`$ be a smooth function that satisfies the axioms $`(V0V4)`$. Consider the action functional

$$𝒮_𝒱(x)=\frac{1}{2}_0^1|\dot{x}(t)|^2𝑑t𝒱(x)$$

and the corresponding heat equation

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)=0$$
(100)
for smooth functions $`\times S^1M:(s,t)u(s,t)`$. In the following we denote by $`𝒫(𝒱)C^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,M)`$ the set of critical points $`x`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ (i.e. of solutions of the equation $`{}_{t}{}^{}\dot{x}+\mathrm{grad}𝒱(x)=0`$), and by $`𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ the set of all $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$ with action $`𝒮_𝒱(x)a`$. For two nondegenerate critical points $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ we denote by $`^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ the set of all solutions $`u`$ of (100) that converge to $`x^\pm (t)`$ as $`s\pm \mathrm{}`$. The energy of such a solution is given by

$$E(u):=_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_0^1\left|_su\right|^2𝑑t𝑑s=𝒮_𝒱(x^{})𝒮_𝒱(x^+).$$

###### Theorem A.1 (Apriori estimates).

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V1)`$ and a constant $`c_0>0`$. Then there is a constant $`C=C(c_0,𝒱)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`u:\times S^1M`$ is a solution of (100) such that $`𝒮_𝒱(u(s,))c_0`$ for every $`s`$ then

$$_su_{\mathrm{}}+_tu_{\mathrm{}}+{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}C.$$

###### Theorem A.2 (Exponential decay).

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$ and assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse.

1. Let $`u:[0,\mathrm{})\times S^1M`$ be a solution of (100). Then there are positive constants $`\rho `$ and $`c_1,c_2,c_3,`$ such that

$$_su_{C^k([T,\mathrm{})\times S^1)}c_ke^{\rho T}$$

for every $`T1`$. Moreover, there is a periodic orbit $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$ such that $`u(s,t)`$ converges to $`x(t)`$ as $`s\mathrm{}`$.
2. Let $`u:(\mathrm{},0]\times S^1M`$ be a solution of (100) with finite energy. Then there are positive constants $`\rho `$ and $`c_1,c_2,c_3,`$ such that

$$_su_{C^k((\mathrm{},T]\times S^1)}c_ke^{\rho T}$$

for every $`T1`$. Moreover, there is a periodic orbit $`x𝒫(𝒱)`$ such that $`u(s,t)`$ converges to $`x(t)`$ as $`s\mathrm{}`$.

###### Theorem A.3 (Regularity).

Fix a constant $`p>2`$ and a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Let $`u:\times S^1M`$ be a continuous function which is locally of class $`W^{1,p}`$. Assume further that $`u`$ is a weak solution of (100). Then $`u`$ is smooth.

The covariant Hessian of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ at a loop $`x:S^1M`$ is the operator $`A(x):W^{2,2}(S^1,x^{}TM)L^2(S^1,x^{}TM)`$, given by

$$A(x)\xi :={}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,\dot{x})\dot{x}_𝒱(x)\xi .$$

This operator is self-adjoint with respect to the standard $`L^2`$ inner product on $`\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$. In this notation the linearized operator $`𝒟_u^0:𝒲_u^p_u^p`$ is given by

$$𝒟_u^0\xi :={}_{s}{}^{}\xi +A(u_s)\xi $$

where $`u_s(t):=u(s,t)`$. (See Section 3 for the definition of the spaces $`𝒲_u=𝒲_u^p`$ and $`_u=_u^p`$.)

###### Theorem A.4 (Fredholm).

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$ and assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse. Let $`x^\pm 𝒫(𝒱)`$ and $`u:\times S^1M`$ be a smooth map such that $`u(s,)`$ converges to $`x^\pm `$ in the $`C^2`$ norm and $`_su`$ converges uniformly to zero as $`s\pm \mathrm{}`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, the operator $`𝒟_u^0:𝒲_u^p_u^p`$ is Fredholm and its Fredholm index is given by

$$\mathrm{index}𝒟_u^0=\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^{})\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^+).$$

Here $`\mathrm{ind}_𝒱(x^\pm )`$ denotes the Morse index of $`x^\pm `$, i.e. the number of negative eigenvalues of $`A(x^\pm )`$.

###### Theorem A.5 (Implicit function theorem).

Fix a perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse and that $`𝒟_u^0`$ is onto for every $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and every pair $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$. Fix two critical points $`x^\pm 𝒫^a(𝒱)`$ with Morse index difference one. Then, for all $`c_0>0`$ and $`p>2`$, there exist positive constants $`\delta _0`$ and $`c`$ such that the following holds. If $`u:\times S^1M`$ is a smooth map such that $`lim_{s\pm \mathrm{}}u(s,)=x^\pm ()`$ exists, uniformly in $`t`$, and such that

$$\left|_su(s,t)\right|\frac{c_0}{1+s^2},\left|_tu(s,t)\right|c_0$$

for all $`(s,t)\times S^1`$ and

$$_su{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)_p\delta _0.$$

Then there exist elements $`u_0^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$ and $`\xi \mathrm{im}(𝒟_{u_0}^0)^{}𝒲_{u_0}`$ satisfying

$$u=\mathrm{exp}_{u_0}(\xi ),\xi _{𝒲_{u_0}}c_su{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u\mathrm{grad}𝒱(u)_p.$$

###### Theorem A.6 (Transversality).

For a generic perturbation $`𝒱:M`$ satisfying $`(V0V4)`$ the function $`𝒮_𝒱:M`$ is Morse–Smale in the sense that every critical point $`x`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is nondegenerate (i.e. the Hessian $`A(x)`$ is bijective) and every finite energy solution $`u:\times S^1M`$ of (100) is regular (i.e. the Fredholm operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ is surjective).

###### Theorem A.7.

Let $`𝒱:M`$ be a perturbation that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$ and assume that $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale. Then, for every regular value $`a`$ of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ and every principal ideal domain $`R`$, there is a natural isomorphism

$$\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_𝒱;R)\mathrm{H}_{}(^aM;R),^aM:=\{xM|𝒮_𝒱(x)a\}.$$

If $`M`$ is not simply connected then there is a separate isomorphism for each component of the loop space. The isomorphism commutes with the homomorphisms $`\mathrm{HM}_{}^a(M,𝒮_𝒱)\mathrm{HM}_{}^b(M,𝒮_𝒱)`$ and $`\mathrm{H}_{}(^aM)\mathrm{H}_{}(^bM)`$ for $`a<b`$.

The proof of Theorem A.7 is similar to the finite dimensional case (see ) since the gradient flow of $`𝒮_𝒱`$ defines a wellposed initial value problem.

## Appendix B Mean value inequalities

Let $`n`$ be a positive integer and denote by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }:=_{1}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+\mathrm{}+_{n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}$$

the standard Laplacian on $`^n`$. Given positive real numbers $`r`$ and $`\epsilon `$ let $`B_r=B_r(0)`$ be the open ball of radius $`r`$ in $`^n`$ and define the *parabolic cylinders* $`P_r,P_r^\epsilon ,P_r^\epsilon ^{n+1}`$ by

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill P_r^\epsilon & :=(r^2\epsilon r,\epsilon r)\times B_r,\hfill \\ \hfill P_r& :=(r^2,0)\times B_r,\hfill \\ \hfill P_r^\epsilon & :=(r^2+\epsilon r,\epsilon r)\times B_r.\hfill \end{array}$$

(see Figure 1). The elements of $`P_r`$ are denoted by $`(s,x)=(s,x_1,\mathrm{},x_n)`$.

###### Lemma B.1.

For every $`n`$ there is a constant $`c_n>0`$ such that the following holds for every $`r(0,1]`$. If $`a0`$ and $`w:\times ^nP_r`$ is $`C^1`$ in the $`s`$-variable and $`C^2`$ in the $`x`$-variable such that

$$(\mathrm{\Delta }_s)waw,w0,$$

then

$$w(0)\frac{c_ne^{ar^2}}{r^{n+2}}_{P_r}w.$$

###### Proof.

For $`a=0`$ this is a special case of a theorem by Gruber for parabolic differential operators with variable coefficients. (See Gruber \[10, Theorem 2.1\] with $`p=1`$, $`\theta =1`$, $`\lambda =1`$, $`\sigma =1/2`$, $`R=r`$ and $`f=0`$; for an another proof see Lieberman \[12, Theorem 7.21\] with $`R=r`$, $`p=1`$, $`\rho =1/2`$, $`f=0`$.)

To prove the result in general assume that $`w`$ satisfies the hypotheses of the lemma and define $`f(s,x):=e^{as}w(s,x).`$ Then

$$(\mathrm{\Delta }_s)f=e^{as}(\mathrm{\Delta }_s+a)w0.$$

Hence, by Gruber’s theorem,

$$w(0)=f(0)\frac{c_n}{r^{n+2}}_{P_r}f\frac{c_ne^{ar^2}}{r^{n+2}}_{P_r}w.$$

This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma B.2.

Let $`c_2`$ be the constant in Lemma B.1 with $`n=2`$. Let $`\epsilon >0`$, $`r(0,1]`$, and $`a0`$. If $`w:\times P_r^\epsilon `$ is $`C^1`$ in the $`s`$-variable and $`C^2`$ in the $`t`$-variable and satisfies

$$L_\epsilon w:=\left(\epsilon ^2_{s}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+_{t}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}_s\right)waw,w0,$$
(101)
then

$$w(0)\frac{2c_2e^{ar^2}}{r^3}_{P_r^\epsilon }w.$$

###### Proof.

The idea of proof was suggested to us by Tom Ilmanen. Define a function $`W`$ on the domain $`P_r\times ^2`$ by

$$W(s,t,q):=w(s+\epsilon q,t).$$

(Note that $`(s+\epsilon q,t)P_r^\epsilon \times `$ for every $`(s,t,q)P_r\times ^2`$.) Then, by assumption, we have

$$\left(\mathrm{\Delta }_s\right)W(s,t,q)=\left(L_\epsilon w\right)(s+\epsilon q,t)aw(s+\epsilon q,t)=aW(s,t,q),$$

where $`\mathrm{\Delta }:=_t^2+_q^2`$. Hence it follows from Lemma B.1 with $`n=2`$ that

$$w(0)=W(0)\frac{c_2e^{ar^2}}{r^4}_{P_r}W.$$

It remains to estimate the integral on the right hand side:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _{P_r}W& _r^r_r^r_{r^2}^0W(s,t,q)𝑑s𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & =_r^r_r^r_{r^2+\epsilon q}^{\epsilon q}w(z,t)𝑑z𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & _r^r_r^r_{r^2\epsilon r}^{\epsilon r}w(z,t)𝑑z𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & =2r_{P_r^\epsilon }w.\hfill \end{array}$$
(102)
The first step uses the fact that $`W0`$ and $`B_r[r,r]\times [r,r]`$. The third step uses the fact that $`w0`$ and $`(r^2+\epsilon q,\epsilon q)(r^2\epsilon r,\epsilon r)`$, since $`0qr`$. ∎

###### Lemma B.3.

Fix three constants $`r>0`$, $`\epsilon 0`$, and $`\mu 0`$. Let $`c_2`$ be the constant of Lemma B.1. If $`f:[r^2\epsilon r,\epsilon r]`$ is a $`C^2`$ function satisfying

$$\epsilon ^2f^{\prime \prime }f^{}+\mu f0,f0,$$

then

$$f(0)\frac{2c_2e^{\mu r^2}}{r^3}_{r^2\epsilon r}^{\epsilon r}f(s)𝑑s.$$

###### Proof.

This follows immediately from Lemma B.2 with $`w(s,t):=f(s)`$. ∎

###### Lemma B.4.

Let $`u:\times ^nP_{R+r}`$ be $`C^1`$ in the $`s`$-variable and $`C^2`$ in the $`x`$-variable and $`f,g:P_{R+r}`$ be continous functions such that

$$\left(\mathrm{\Delta }_s\right)ugf,u0,f0,g0.$$

Then

$$_{P_R}g_{P_{R+r}}f+\left(\frac{4}{r^2}+\frac{1}{Rr}\right)_{P_{R+r}P_R}u.$$

###### Proof.

The proof rests on the following two inequalities. Let $`B_r^n`$ be the open ball of radius $`r`$ centered at zero. Then, for every smooth function $`u:^n[0,\mathrm{})`$, we have

$$_{B_r}\frac{u}{\nu }=\frac{n1}{r}_{B_r}u+\frac{d}{dr}_{B_r}u\frac{d}{dr}_{B_r}u$$
(103)
(see \[11, Theorem 2.1\]). Secondly, every smooth function $`u:\times ^n[0,\mathrm{})`$ satisfies

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \frac{d}{d\sigma }_{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(_{B_{R+\sigma }}u(s,)\right)𝑑s& =_{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(\frac{d}{d\sigma }_{B_{R+\sigma }}u(s,)\right)𝑑s\hfill \\ & +2(R+\sigma )_{B_{R+\sigma }}u((R+\sigma )^2,)\hfill \\ & _{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(\frac{d}{d\sigma }_{B_{R+\sigma }}u(s,)\right)𝑑s.\hfill \end{array}$$
(104)
Now suppose $`u`$, $`f`$, $`g`$ satisfy the assumptions of the lemma. Then, for $`0\sigma r`$,

$$\begin{array}{cc}& _{P_R}g_{P_{R+r}}f\hfill \\ & _{P_{R+\sigma }}(\mathrm{\Delta }u_su)\hfill \\ & =_{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(_{B_{R+\sigma }}\frac{u}{\nu }(s,)\right)𝑑s_{B_{R+\sigma }}\left(u(0,)u((R+\sigma )^2,)\right)𝑑x\hfill \\ & _{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(\frac{d}{d\sigma }_{B_{R+\sigma }}u(s,)\right)𝑑s+_{B_{R+\sigma }}u((R+\sigma )^2,x)𝑑x\hfill \\ & \frac{d}{d\sigma }_{(R+\sigma )^2}^0\left(_{B_{R+\sigma }}u(s,)\right)𝑑s+_{B_{R+\sigma }}u((R+\sigma )^2,x)𝑑x.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the first step uses the inclusions $`P_RP_{R+\sigma }P_{R+r}`$. The third step follows from (103) and the last from (104). Now integrate this inequality over the interval $`0\sigma t`$, with $`r/2tr`$, to obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \frac{r}{2}\left(_{P_R}g_{P_{R+r}}f\right)\hfill \\ & _{(R+t)^2}^0\left(_{B_{R+t}}u(s,)\right)𝑑s+_0^r\left(_{B_{R+\sigma }}u((R+\sigma )^2,)\right)𝑑\sigma \hfill \\ & _{(R+r)^2}^0\left(_{B_{R+t}}u(s,)\right)𝑑s+\frac{1}{2R}_{(R+r)^2}^{R^2}_{B_{R+r}}u(s,x)𝑑x𝑑s.\hfill \end{array}$$

Here the last step follows by substituting $`s=(R+\sigma )^2`$ and using $`\sqrt{s}R`$. Integrate this inequality again over the interval $`r/2tr`$ to obtain

$$\frac{r}{2}\left(_{P_R}g_{P_{R+r}}f\right)\frac{2}{r}_{P_{R+r}P_R}u+\frac{1}{2R}_{P_{R+r}P_R}u.$$

This proves Lemma B.4. ∎

###### Lemma B.5.

Let $`\epsilon ,R,r`$ be positive real numbers. Let $`u:^2P_{R+r}^\epsilon `$ be a $`C^2`$ function and $`f,g:P_{R+r}^\epsilon `$ be continous functions such that

$$\left(\epsilon ^2_{s}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+_{t}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}_s\right)ugf,u0,f0,g0.$$

Then

$$_{P_{R/2}^\epsilon }g\frac{2(R+r)}{R}_{P_{R+r}^\epsilon }f+\frac{2(R+r)}{R}\left(\frac{4}{r^2}+\frac{1}{Rr}\right)_{P_{R+r}^\epsilon }u.$$

###### Proof.

The idea of proof is as in Lemma B.2. Increase the dimension of the domain from two to three and apply Lemma B.4 with $`n=2`$. Define functions $`U,F,G`$ on $`P_{R+r}\times ^2`$ by

$$U(s,t,q):=u(s+\epsilon q,t),F(s,t,q):=f(s+\epsilon q,t),G(s,t,q):=g(s+\epsilon q,t).$$

The new variable $`\sigma :=s+\epsilon q`$ satisfies $`(\sigma ,t)P_{R+r}^\epsilon \times `$ whenever $`(s,t,q)P_{R+r}\times ^2`$. Use the differential inequality in the assumption of the lemma to conclude $`\left(\mathrm{\Delta }_s\right)UGF,`$ where $`\mathrm{\Delta }:=_t^2+_q^2`$. Thus Lemma B.4 with $`n=2`$ yields

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _{P_R}G& _{P_{R+r}}F+\left(\frac{4}{r^2}+\frac{1}{Rr}\right)_{P_{R+r}}U\hfill \\ & 2(R+r)_{P_{R+r}^\epsilon }f+2(R+r)\left(\frac{4}{r^2}+\frac{1}{Rr}\right)_{P_{R+r}^\epsilon }u.\hfill \end{array}$$

The last step uses (102). By definition of $`G`$

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _{P_R}G& =_{B_R^2}\left(_{R^2}^0g(s+\epsilon q,t)𝑑s\right)𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & _{R/2}^{R/2}_{R/2}^{R/2}_{R^2+\epsilon q}^{\epsilon q}g(\sigma ,t)𝑑\sigma 𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & _{R/2}^{R/2}_{R/2}^{R/2}_{R^2+\epsilon R/2}^{\epsilon R/2}g(\sigma ,t)𝑑\sigma 𝑑q𝑑t\hfill \\ & =R_{R/2}^{R/2}_{R^2+\epsilon R/2}^{\epsilon R/2}g(\sigma ,t)𝑑\sigma 𝑑t\hfill \\ & R_{P_{R/2}^\epsilon }g.\hfill \end{array}$$

This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma B.6.

Fix three positive constants $`r,R,\epsilon `$ and three functions $`u,f,g:[(R+r)^2\epsilon (R+r),\epsilon (R+r)]`$ such that $`u`$ is $`C^2`$ and $`f,g`$ are continuous. If

$$\epsilon ^2u^{\prime \prime }u^{}gf,u0,f0,g0,$$

then

$`{\displaystyle _{R^2/4+R\epsilon /2}^{R\epsilon /2}}g(s)𝑑s`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2(R+r)}{R}}{\displaystyle _{(R+r)^2\epsilon (R+r)}^{\epsilon (R+r)}}f(s)𝑑s`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{2(R+r)}{R}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{4}{r^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{Rr}}\right){\displaystyle _{(R+r)^2\epsilon (R+r)}^{\epsilon (R+r)}}u(s)𝑑s.`$
###### Proof.

This follows immediately from Lemma B.5 with $`u`$, $`f`$, and $`g`$ independent of the $`t`$-variable. ∎

## Appendix C Two fundamental $`L^p`$ estimates

###### Theorem C.1.

For every $`p>1`$ there is a constant $`c=c(p)>0`$ such that

$$_su_{L^p}+_sv_{L^p}c\left(_su_tv_{L^p}+_sv+_tuv_{L^p}\right)$$
(105)
for all $`u,vC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2)`$.

###### Theorem C.2.

For every $`p>1`$ there is a constant $`c=c(p)>0`$ such that

$$_su_{L^p}+_t_tu_{L^p}c_su_t_tu_{L^p}$$
(106)
for every $`uC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2)`$.

If we assume $`v=_tu`$ then (105) follows from (106) (but not conversely). On the other hand if the term $`_sv+_tuv`$ on the right is replaced by $`_sv+_tu`$, then (105) becomes the Calderon-Zygmund inequality. However, it seems that the estimate (105) in its full strength cannot be deduced directly from the Calderon–Zygmund inequality and the parabolic estimate (106). Theorems C.1 and C.2 will be proved below.

###### Corollary C.3.

Let $`p>1`$ and denote by $`c=c(p)`$ the constant of Theorem C.1. Then

$$_su_{L^p}+\epsilon _sv_{L^p}c\left(_su_tv_{L^p}+\epsilon _sv+\epsilon ^2(_tuv)_{L^p}\right)$$
(107)
for every $`\epsilon >0`$ and every pair $`u,vC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2)`$.

###### Proof.

Denote

$$f:=_su_tv,g:=_sv+\epsilon ^2(_tuv).$$

Now consider the rescaled functions

$$\stackrel{~}{u}(s,t):=u(\epsilon ^2s,\epsilon t),\stackrel{~}{v}(s,t):=\epsilon v(\epsilon ^2s,\epsilon t)$$

and

$$\stackrel{~}{f}(s,t):=\epsilon ^2f(\epsilon ^2s,\epsilon t),\stackrel{~}{g}(s,t):=\epsilon ^3g(\epsilon ^2s,\epsilon t).$$

Then

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}_t\stackrel{~}{v}=\stackrel{~}{f},_s\stackrel{~}{v}+_t\stackrel{~}{u}\stackrel{~}{v}=\stackrel{~}{g}.$$

Hence, by Theorem C.1,

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}_{L^p}+_s\stackrel{~}{v}_{L^p}c\left(\stackrel{~}{f}_{L^p}+\stackrel{~}{g}_{L^p}\right).$$

Now the result follows from the fact that

$$_s\stackrel{~}{u}_{L^p}=\epsilon ^{23/p}_su_{L^p},\stackrel{~}{f}_{L^p}=\epsilon ^{23/p}f_{L^p},$$

and similarly for the other terms. ∎

We give a proof of (105) and (106) that is based on the Marcinkiewicz–Mihlin multiplier method. To formulate the result, we consider the Fourier transform

$$:L^2(^2,)L^2(^2,),$$

given by

$$(f)(\sigma ,\tau ):=\frac{1}{2\pi }_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}e^{i(\sigma s+\tau t)}f(s,t)𝑑s𝑑t$$

for $`fL^2(^2,)L^1(^2,)`$. Given a bounded measurable complex valued function $`m:^2`$ define the bounded linear operator

$$𝒯_m:L^2(^2,)L^2(^2,)$$

by

$$𝒯_mf:=^1(mf).$$

The following theorem is proved in .

###### Theorem C.4 (Marcinkiewicz–Mihlin).

For every $`c>0`$ and every $`p>1`$ there is a constant $`c_p=c_p(c)>0`$ such that the following holds. If $`m:^2`$ is a measurable function such that the restriction of $`m`$ to each of the four open quadrants in $`^2`$ is twice continuously differentiable and

$$|m(\sigma ,\tau )|+\left|\sigma _\sigma m(\sigma ,\tau )\right|+\left|\tau _\tau m(\sigma ,\tau )\right|+\left|\sigma \tau _\sigma _\tau m(\sigma ,\tau )\right|c$$
(108)
for $`\sigma ,\tau \{0\}`$ then

$$fL^p(^2,)L^2(^2,)𝒯_mfL^p(^2,)$$

and

$$𝒯_mf_{L^p}c_pf_{L^p}$$

for every $`fL^p(^2,)L^2(^2,)`$.

###### Remark C.5.

The theorem of Marcinkiewicz–Mihlin in its original form is slightly stronger than Theorem C.4, namely condition (108) is replaced by the weaker conditions

$$\underset{\sigma ,\tau }{sup}|m(\sigma ,\tau )|c,$$
(109)
$$\underset{\sigma 0}{sup}_2^{\mathrm{}}^{2^{\mathrm{}+1}}\left|_\tau m(\sigma ,\pm \tau )\right|𝑑\tau c,\underset{\tau 0}{sup}_{2^k}^{2^{k+1}}\left|_\sigma m(\pm \sigma ,\tau )\right|𝑑\sigma c$$
(110)
and

$$_{2^k}^{2^{k+1}}_2^{\mathrm{}}^{2^{\mathrm{}+1}}\left|_\sigma _\tau m(\pm \sigma ,\pm \tau )\right|𝑑\tau c$$
(111)
for all integers $`k`$ and $`\mathrm{}`$ (and all choices of signs). In this form the result is proved in Stein \[20, Theorem 6’\]. It is easy to see that (108) implies (110) with $`c`$ replaced by $`c\mathrm{log}2`$ and (111) with $`c`$ replaced by $`c(\mathrm{log}2)^2`$.

###### Proof of Theorem C.2..

Let $`uC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2,)`$ and define $`fC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2)`$ by

$$f:=_su_t_tu.$$

Denote the Fourier transforms of $`f`$ and $`u`$ by

$$\widehat{f}:=f,\widehat{u}:=u.$$

Then

$$\widehat{f}=i\sigma \widehat{u}+\tau ^2\widehat{u}$$

and hence

$$\widehat{_su}=i\sigma \widehat{u}=\frac{i\sigma }{\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{f}.$$

Denote the multiplier in this equation by

$$m(\sigma ,\tau ):=\frac{i\sigma }{\tau ^2+i\sigma }.$$

The formulae

$$_\sigma m=\frac{i\tau ^2}{\left(\tau ^2+i\sigma \right)^2},_\tau m=\frac{2i\sigma \tau }{\left(\tau ^2+i\sigma \right)^2},_\sigma _\tau m=\frac{2i\tau (\tau ^2i\sigma )}{\left(\tau ^2+i\sigma \right)^3}$$

show that the functions $`m`$, $`\sigma _\sigma m`$, $`\tau _\tau m`$, and $`\sigma \tau _\sigma _\tau m`$ are bounded. Hence the result follows from Theorem C.4. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem C.1..

Let $`u,vC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2,)`$ and define $`f,gC_0^{\mathrm{}}(^2)`$ by

$$f:=_su_tv,g:=_sv+_tuv.$$

Then

$$\widehat{f}=i\sigma \widehat{u}i\tau \widehat{v},\widehat{g}=i\sigma \widehat{v}+i\tau \widehat{u}\widehat{v}.$$

Solving this equation for $`\widehat{u}`$ and $`\widehat{v}`$ we find

$$\widehat{u}=\frac{1i\sigma }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{f}\frac{i\tau }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{g},$$

$$\widehat{v}=\frac{i\tau }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{f}\frac{i\sigma }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{g},$$

and hence

$$\widehat{_su}=\frac{\sigma ^2+i\sigma }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{f}+\frac{\sigma \tau }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{g},$$

$$\widehat{_sv}=\frac{\sigma \tau }{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{f}+\frac{\sigma ^2}{\sigma ^2+\tau ^2+i\sigma }\widehat{g}.$$

The four multipliers in the last two equations satisfy (108). Hence the result follows from Theorem C.4. ∎

## Appendix D The estimate for the inverse

We begin by proving a weaker version of the estimate in Theorem 3.2.

###### Proposition D.1.

Let $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ and $`v\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$ such that $`_su_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$ are finite and $`lim_{s\pm \mathrm{}}u(s,t)`$ exists, uniformly in $`t`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & c\left(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\epsilon ^1\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(112)
for every $`\epsilon (0,1]`$ and every pair of compactly supported vector fields $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$. The formal adjoint operator $`(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}`$ satisfies the same estimate.

###### Proof.

Choose a finite open cover $`\{U_\alpha \}_\alpha `$ of the cylinder $`\times S^1`$ with the following properties.

1. For each $`\alpha `$ the set $`U_\alpha \times S^1`$ is contractible.
2. For each $`\alpha `$ the closure of the image of $`U_\alpha `$ under $`u`$ is contained in a coordinate chart on $`M`$.
3. There is a constant $`T>0`$ and an open cover $`\{I_\alpha \}_\alpha `$ of $`S^1`$ such that $`U_\alpha [T,\mathrm{})\times S^1=[T,\mathrm{})\times I_\alpha `$ for every $`\alpha `$. Similarly for the interval $`(\mathrm{},T]`$.

We prove (112) for $`𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$. The estimate for $`(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}`$ is analoguous. Assume first that $`\xi `$ and $`\eta `$ are compactly supported in $`U_\alpha `$ for some $`\alpha `$ and denote by $`\xi _\alpha ,\eta _\alpha :U_\alpha ^n`$ the vector fields in local coordinates. By Corollary C.3, there is a constant $`c_\alpha `$, depending only on $`p`$ and the metric, such that

$$_s\xi _\alpha _p+\epsilon _s\eta _\alpha _pc_\alpha \left(_s\xi _\alpha _t\eta _\alpha _p+\epsilon _s\eta _\alpha +\epsilon ^2(_t\xi _\alpha \eta _\alpha )_p\right).$$

Here we denote by $`_p`$ the $`L^p`$ norm with respect to the Riemannian metric in the coordinate charts on $`M`$. Replacing the partial derivatives $`_s`$ and $`_t`$ by the covariant derivatives $`_s`$ and $`_t`$ we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p& c({}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta )_p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^1\xi _p+\eta _p).\hfill \end{array}$$
(113)
for every $`\xi `$ with support in one of the sets $`U_\alpha `$. Here we have used the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bounds on $`_su`$ and $`_tu`$. Observe that the constant $`c`$ depends on the Christoffel symbols determined by our coordinate chart on $`M`$. Now let $`\{\beta _\alpha \}_\alpha `$ be a partition of unity subordinate to the cover $`\{U_\alpha \}_\alpha `$ such that $`_s\beta _\alpha _{\mathrm{}}+_t\beta _\alpha _{\mathrm{}}<\mathrm{}`$ for every $`\alpha `$. (Note that $`\beta _\alpha `$ need not have compact support when $`U_\alpha `$ is unbounded.) Given any two compactly supported vector fields $`\xi ,\eta \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$ apply (113) to the (compactly supported) pair $`(\beta _\alpha \xi ,\beta _\alpha \eta )`$ and take the sum to deduce that (113) continues to hold for the pair $`(\xi ,\eta )`$ with an appropriate larger constant $`c`$. Using the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bounds on $`_su`$, $`_tu`$, $`v`$, and the curvature (as well as the axioms $`(V0V1)`$ for $`𝒱`$) we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill {}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p& c^{}({}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}\eta R(\xi ,_tu)v_𝒱(u)\xi _p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta +R(\xi ,_su)v+\epsilon ^2({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta )_p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^1\xi _p+\eta _p).\hfill \end{array}$$

This implies (112). ∎

Under the assumptions of Proposition D.1 it follows immediately that

$$\zeta _{1,p,\epsilon }c\left(\epsilon ^2𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\right)$$
(114)
and similarly for $`(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}`$. Moreover, note that the difference between Proposition D.1 and Theorem 3.2 lies in the $`\epsilon `$-factors in front of $`\xi _p`$ and $`\eta _p`$ on the right hand sides of the estimates. To prove Theorem 3.2 we must improve these these factors by $`\epsilon `$ for $`\xi `$ and by $`\epsilon ^2`$ for $`\eta `$. This requires the following parabolic estimate. Let $`1/p+1/q=1`$. The *formal adjoint operator*

$$(𝒟_u^0)^{}:𝒲_u^q_u^q$$

of $`𝒟_u^0:𝒲_u^p_u^p`$ is given by

$$(𝒟_u^0)^{}\xi ={}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi .$$
(115)
###### Proposition D.2.

Let $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ such that $`_su_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$ are finite and $`lim_{s\pm \mathrm{}}u(s,t)`$ exists, uniformly in $`t`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$${}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc(𝒟_u^0\xi _p+\xi _p)$$
(116)
for every compactly supported vector field $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$. The formal adjoint operator $`(𝒟_u^0)^{}`$ satisfies the same estimate.

###### Lemma D.3.

Let $`x:S^1M`$ be a smooth map, $`p>1`$ and

$$\kappa _p:=\{\begin{array}{cc}p\hfill & \text{if }p2,\hfill \\ p/(p1)\hfill & \text{if }p2.\hfill \end{array}$$
(117)
Then, for every $`\epsilon >0`$ and every $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$, we have

$`(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi _p`$ $`\xi _p,`$
$`\sqrt{\epsilon }(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p`$ $`\kappa _p\xi _p,`$
$`\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p`$ $`2\xi _p.`$
These estimates continue to hold for $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ and compactly supported vector fields $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

First consider the case $`p2`$: Let $`\epsilon >0`$ and $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$. Define

$$\eta :=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi .$$

(The operator $`(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}):W^{2,p}(S^1,x^{}TM)L^p(S^1,x^{}TM)`$ is bijective.) Then

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \frac{d^2}{dt^2}|\eta |^p& =\frac{d}{dt}\left(p\left|\eta \right|^{p2}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta \right)\hfill \\ & =p(p2)|\eta |^{p4}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta ^2+p|\eta |^{p2}({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta +|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^2)\hfill \\ & p\epsilon ^1|\eta |^pp\epsilon ^1|\eta |^{p2}\xi ,\eta \hfill \\ & p\epsilon ^1|\eta |^pp\epsilon ^1|\eta |^{p1}|\xi |\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^1|\eta |^p\epsilon ^1|\xi |^p.\hfill \end{array}$$

The third step uses the identity $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta =\epsilon ^1\eta \epsilon ^1\xi `$. The last step uses Young’s inequality

$$ab\frac{a^r}{r}+\frac{b^s}{s},\frac{1}{r}+\frac{1}{s}=1,$$
(118)
with $`r=p`$, $`a=|\xi |`$ and $`s=p/(p1)`$, $`b=|\eta |^{p1}`$. Moreover,

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \frac{d}{dt}\left(\left|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta \right|^{p2}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta \right)\hfill \\ & =|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p+|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta +(p2)|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p4}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,{}_{t}{}^{}\eta \hfill \\ & =|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p+\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}|\eta |^2\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}\xi ,\eta \hfill \\ & \epsilon ^1(p2)|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p4}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta \xi ,{}_{t}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^1(p2)|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p4}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta ^2\hfill \\ & |{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p+\frac{1}{2}\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}|\eta |^2\frac{p1}{2}\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}|\xi |^2+\frac{p2}{2}\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p4}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,\eta ^2\hfill \\ & |{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p\frac{p1}{2}\epsilon ^1|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}|\xi |^2\hfill \\ & \frac{2}{p}|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^p\frac{2}{p}\left(\frac{p1}{2}\right)^{p/2}\epsilon ^{p/2}|\xi |^p.\hfill \end{array}$$

The third step uses (118) with $`r=s=2`$. The last step uses (118) with $`r=p/2`$, $`a=\frac{p1}{2}\epsilon ^1|\xi |^2`$ and $`s=p/(p2)`$, $`b=|{}_{t}{}^{}\eta |^{p2}`$. Now the first two estimates of the lemma follow by integration over $`S^1`$, respectively $`\times S^1`$. The last estimate is an easy consequence of the first:

$$\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p=\eta \xi _p\eta _p+\xi _p2\xi _p.$$

This proves the lemma for $`p2`$. Now assume $`1<p<2`$ and let $`q:=p/(p1)`$. Then $`q>2`$ and hence

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \sqrt{\epsilon }(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p& =\sqrt{\epsilon }\underset{0\eta L^q}{sup}\frac{(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ,\eta }{\eta _q}\hfill \\ & \sqrt{\epsilon }\underset{0\eta L^q}{sup}\frac{\xi _p(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q}{\eta _q}\hfill \\ & q\xi _p.\hfill \end{array}$$

This prove the second estimate for $`p<2`$. The other estimates follow similarly. This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma D.4.

Let $`xC^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,M)`$ and $`p>1`$. Then

$${}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p\kappa _p(\delta ^1\xi _p+\delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p)$$

for $`\delta >0`$ and $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)`$, where $`\kappa _p`$ is defined by (117). This estimate continues to hold for $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ and compactly supported vector fields $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`1/p+1/q=1`$. Since the operator

$$W^{2,q}(S^1,x^{}TM)L^q(S^1,x^{}TM):\eta \delta ^1\eta +\delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta $$

is bijective, we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p& =\underset{\eta W^{2,q}}{sup}\frac{{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ,\delta ^1\eta \delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta }{\delta ^1\eta \delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q}\hfill \\ & =\underset{\eta W^{2,q}}{sup}\frac{\xi ,\delta ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\eta +{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ,\delta {}_{t}{}^{}\eta }{\delta ^1\eta \delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q}\hfill \\ & (\delta ^1\xi _p+\delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p)\underset{\eta W^{2,q}}{sup}\frac{{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q}{\delta ^1\eta \delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q}\hfill \\ & \kappa _p(\delta ^1\xi _p+\delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p).\hfill \end{array}$$

To prove the last step, denote

$$\zeta :=\eta \delta ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta .$$

Then

$${}_{t}{}^{}\eta =(1\mathrm{l}\delta ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\zeta $$

and hence, by Lemma D.3 with $`\epsilon =\delta ^2`$, we have

$${}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q\kappa _q\delta ^1\zeta _q=\kappa _p\delta ^1\eta \delta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _q.$$

We have used the fact that $`\kappa _p=\kappa _q`$. This proves the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Proposition D.2..

The proof follows the same pattern as that of Proposition D.1. Let $`\{U_\alpha \}_\alpha `$ be as above. If $`\xi `$ is (compactly) supported in $`U_\alpha `$ then, by Theorem C.2,

$$_s\xi _\alpha _p+_t_t\xi _\alpha _pc_\alpha _s\xi _\alpha _t_t\xi _\alpha _p$$

Replacing $`_s`$ and $`_t`$ by $`_s`$ and $`_t`$, and using the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bounds on $`_su`$, $`_tu`$, and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$, we find

$${}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc({}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p).$$

Using a partition of unity $`\{\beta _\alpha \}_\alpha `$, subordinate to the cover $`\{U_\alpha \}_\alpha `$, such that

$$_s\beta _\alpha _{\mathrm{}}+_t\beta _\alpha _{\mathrm{}}+_t_t\beta _\alpha _{\mathrm{}}<\mathrm{},$$

we deduce that the last estimate continues to hold for every compactly supported vector field $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$. Now apply Lemma D.4 with $`\delta cp<1/2`$ to obtain

$${}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc^{}({}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\xi _p).$$

Hence

$${}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc^{\prime \prime }({}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi _p+\xi _p)$$

as required. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 3.2.

Fix a constant $`p>1`$ and define

$$f(\xi ,\eta ):={}_{s}{}^{}\xi {}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,g(\xi ,\eta ):={}_{s}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta ),$$

for compactly supported vector fields $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$. It suffices to show that

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & c\left(f_p+\epsilon g_p+\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(119)
for some constant $`c>0`$ independent of $`\epsilon `$ and $`(\xi ,\eta )`$. The general case (for $`𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$) then follows easily:

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & c^{}\left(fR(\xi ,_tu)v_𝒱(u)\xi _p+\epsilon g+R(\xi ,_su)v_p+\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

To prove the estimate for the formal adjoint operator $`(𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon )^{}`$ apply (119) to the vector fields $`\xi (s,t)`$ and $`\eta (s,t)`$ and then proceed as above.

To prove (119) we split $`\zeta `$ into two components. Let

$$\pi _\epsilon (\xi ,\eta ):=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ),\iota (\xi ):=(\xi ,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ),$$

and define

$$\zeta _0:=\left(\begin{array}{c}\xi _0\\ \eta _0\end{array}\right):=\iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta =\left(\begin{array}{c}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )\\ {}_{t}{}^{}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})_{}^{1}(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )\end{array}\right),$$

$$\zeta _1:=\left(\begin{array}{c}\xi _1\\ \eta _1\end{array}\right):=\zeta \zeta _0=\left(\begin{array}{c}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta \epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi )\\ (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi +(\epsilon ^2\epsilon ){}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )\end{array}\right).$$

Note that $`\eta _0={}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}`$ and

$$\xi _1\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{1}^{}=(\epsilon ^2\epsilon ){}_{t}{}^{}\eta .$$
(120)
Since $`f`$ and $`g`$ are linear, we obtain the splitting $`f=f_0+f_1`$ and $`g=g_0+g_1`$, where $`f_i:=f(\xi _i,\eta _i)`$ and $`g_i:=g(\xi _i,\eta _i)`$ for $`i=0,1`$. Thus

$$f_0={}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{},g_0={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}.$$

Now apply the parabolic estimate of Proposition D.2, with a constant $`c_0>0`$, to $`\xi _0`$ and the elliptic estimate of Proposition D.1, with a constant $`c_1>0`$, to $`(\xi _1,\eta _1)`$. This gives

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{1}^{}\eta _1_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{1}^{}_p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{1}^{}_p+\epsilon {}_{s}{}^{}\eta _{1}^{}_p\hfill \\ & c_0\left(f_0_p+\xi _0_p\right)+\epsilon g_0_p\hfill \\ & +c_1\left(f_1_p+\epsilon g_1_p+\epsilon ^1\xi _1_p+\eta _1_p\right)\hfill \\ & c_1\left(f_p+\epsilon g_p+\epsilon ^1\xi _1_p+\eta _1_p\right)\hfill \\ & +(c_0+c_1)f_0_p+(1+c_1)\epsilon g_0_p+c_0\xi _0_p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(121)
We examine the last five terms on the right individually. For this we shall need the commutator identities

$`\begin{array}{cc}\hfill [{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]& =R(_su,_tu),\hfill \end{array}`$ (122)
$`\begin{array}{cc}\hfill [{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]& =2{}_{t}{}^{}[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]({}_{_tu}{}^{}R)(_su,_tu)\hfill \\ & R({}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,_tu)+R(_su,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u),\hfill \end{array}`$ (123)
$`\begin{array}{cc}\hfill [{}_{s}{}^{},(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1]& =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{},{}_{s}{}^{}](1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\hfill \\ & =\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}](1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1.\hfill \end{array}`$ (124)
By Lemma D.3 and (123), we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \epsilon ^{1/2}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _p\hfill \\ & 2\epsilon ^{1/2}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _p+c_1\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p\hfill \\ & 2\kappa _p[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _p+c_1\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p\hfill \\ & c_2\xi _p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(125)
Here we have used the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ bounds on $`_su`$, $`_tu`$, $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$, and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u`$. Now the five relevant terms are estimated as follows.

The term $`\mathbf{}\xi _\mathrm{𝟎}\mathbf{}_p`$: By definition,

$$\xi _0=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).$$

Hence, by Lemma D.3,

$$\xi _0_p\xi _p+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p.$$
(126)
The term $`\mathbf{}f_\mathrm{𝟎}\mathbf{}_p`$: Consider the identity

$$\begin{array}{cc}& (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})f_0f+\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}g\hfill \\ & ={}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\eta +{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \hfill \\ & =\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2R(_tu,_su)\eta +\epsilon [{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _0.\hfill \end{array}$$

Apply the operator $`(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1`$ to this equation and use Lemma D.3 and (125) to obtain

$$f_0_pf_p+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{3/2}g_p+2\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+\epsilon ^2c_3\eta _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}c_2\xi _0_p,$$
(127)
where $`c_3:=R_{\mathrm{}}_su_{\mathrm{}}_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$.

The term $`\epsilon \mathbf{}g_\mathrm{𝟎}\mathbf{}_p`$: By (124), we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill g_0& ={}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}\hfill \\ & =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi +[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\eta \epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\eta )\hfill \\ & +\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}](1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).\hfill \end{array}$$

Hence, by Lemma D.3, (122), and (125),

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \epsilon g_0_p& \kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+c_3\epsilon \xi _p+2\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p+c_2\epsilon ^{5/2}\eta _p\hfill \\ & +c_2\epsilon ^{3/2}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1({}_{t}{}^{}\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )_p\hfill \\ & \kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+2\epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & +\epsilon (\kappa _pc_2+c_3)\xi _p+3c_2\epsilon ^{5/2}\eta _p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(128)
The term $`\epsilon ^\mathbf{}\mathrm{𝟏}\mathbf{}\xi _\mathrm{𝟏}\mathbf{}_p`$: By (120), we have

$$\epsilon ^1\xi _1={}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{1}^{}+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\eta =\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{0}^{}.$$

Hence

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \epsilon ^1\xi _1_p& \epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\hfill \\ & \epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p+c_0\left(f_0_p+\xi _0_p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$
(129)
In the last step we have used the parabolic estimate of Proposition D.2.

The term $`\mathbf{}\eta _\mathrm{𝟏}\mathbf{}_p`$: By definition,

$$\eta _1=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi +(\epsilon ^2\epsilon ){}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).$$

Hence, by the triangle inequality and Lemma D.3, we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \eta _1_p& (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi )_p+\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+\kappa _p\sqrt{\epsilon }{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(130)
Insert the five estimates (126-130) into (121) to obtain (13), provided that $`\epsilon `$ is sufficiently small. This proves Theorem 3.2. ∎

### The estimate for the inverse

Geometrically, the difference between the operators $`𝒟_u^0`$ and $`𝒟_{u,v}^\epsilon `$ is the difference between configuration space and phase space, or between loops in $`M`$ and loops in $`T^{}MTM`$. Consider the embedding

$$MTM:x(x,\dot{x}).$$

The differential of this embedding is given by

$$\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TM)\mathrm{\Omega }^0(S^1,x^{}TMx^{}TM):\xi (\xi ,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ).$$

To compare the operators $`𝒟_u^0`$ and $`𝒟_u^\epsilon :=𝒟_{u,_tu}^\epsilon `$ we must choose a projection onto the image of this embedding (along $`u`$). At first glance it might seem natural to choose the orthogonal projection with respect to the inner product determined by the $`(0,2,\epsilon )`$-Hilbert space structure. This is given by

$$(\xi ,\eta )(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon ^\alpha {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^\beta {}_{t}{}^{}\eta )$$

with $`\alpha =\beta =2`$. Instead we introduce the projection operator

$$\pi _\epsilon :L^p(S^1,u^{}TM)\times L^p(S^1,u^{}TM)W^{1,p}(S^1,u^{}TM)$$

given by

$$\pi _\epsilon (\xi ,\eta ):=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).$$
(131)
The reason for this choice becomes visible in the proof of Proposition D.5 below, which requires $`\beta =2`$. Moreover, the estimates in Step 1 of the proof of Theorem 3.3 are optimized for $`\alpha =1`$. We denote by $`\iota :W^{1,p}(\times S^1,u^{}TM)L^p(S^1,u^{}TM)\times L^p(S^1,u^{}TM)`$ the inclusion

$$\iota \xi _0:=(\xi _0,{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}).$$
(132)
The significance of these definitions lies in the next proposition and lemma. The proofs rely on Lemma D.3.

###### Proposition D.5.

Let $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$ be a smooth map such that the derivatives $`_su,_tu,{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u,{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ are bounded and define $`v:=_tu`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there exists a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$𝒟_u^0\pi _\epsilon \zeta \pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta _pc\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+c\epsilon ^2\eta _p+c\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p$$

for $`\epsilon (0,1]`$ and compactly supported $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$. The same estimate holds for $`(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}`$. Moreover, the constant $`c`$ is invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$.

###### Lemma D.6.

For $`uC^{\mathrm{}}(\times S^1,M)`$, $`p>1`$, $`\kappa _p`$ as in (117), and $`0<\epsilon 1`$,

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \xi \pi _\epsilon \zeta _p& \kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ \hfill \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta _p& {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ \hfill \zeta \iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }& 2\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+2\kappa _p\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ \hfill \pi _\epsilon \zeta _p& \iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }2\kappa _p\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \end{array}$$

for every compactly supported $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

Denote

$$\xi _0:=\pi _\epsilon \zeta =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).$$

Then

$$\xi \xi _0=\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}(\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi )+(\epsilon ^2\epsilon )(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}\eta $$

and hence, by Lemma D.3,

$$\xi \xi _0_p\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p$$

Similarly,

$$\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}=(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi )+(\epsilon ^2\epsilon )(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta $$

and hence, again by Lemma D.3,

$$\epsilon \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{3/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p.$$

Take the sum of these two inequalities to obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \zeta \iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }& \xi \xi _0_p+\epsilon \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\hfill \\ & 2\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+2\kappa _p\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \end{array}$$

for $`0<\epsilon 1`$. Moreover, using Lemma D.3 the formula for $`\xi _0`$ gives

$$\xi _0_p\xi _p+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{3/2}\eta _p,\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+2\epsilon ^2\eta _p.$$

Take these two inequalities to the power $`p`$ and take the sum to obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }^p& =\xi _0_p^p+\epsilon ^p{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}_p^p\hfill \\ & (1+\kappa _p^p\epsilon ^{p/2})\xi _p^p+(\kappa _p^p\epsilon ^{p/2}+2^p\epsilon ^p)\epsilon ^p\eta _p^p\hfill \\ & (2\kappa _p)^p\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }^p\hfill \end{array}$$

for $`0<\epsilon 1`$. This proves Lemma D.6. ∎

###### Proof of Proposition D.5..

As above, denote

$$\xi _0:=\pi _\epsilon \zeta =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ).$$

Then

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill 𝒟_u^0\pi _\epsilon \zeta & ={}_{s}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{0}^{}R(\xi _0,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi _0\hfill \\ & =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1({}_{s}{}^{}\xi \epsilon ^2{}_{s}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta )\hfill \\ & +\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _0\hfill \\ & +R((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,_tu)_tu+_𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta \hfill \\ & R((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi ,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi .\hfill \end{array}$$

Denote $`\zeta ^{}:=(\xi ^{},\eta ^{}):=𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta `$, then

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta & =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\xi ^{}\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{})\hfill \\ & =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1({}_{s}{}^{}\xi R(\xi ,_tu)_tu_𝒱(u)\xi \hfill \\ & \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{s}{}^{}\eta \epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(\xi ,_su)_tu\right){}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi ).\hfill \end{array}$$

Taking the difference we find

$$\begin{array}{cc}& 𝒟_u^0\pi _\epsilon \zeta \pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta \hfill \\ & =(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]\eta +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(\xi ,_su)_tu\right))\hfill \\ & +\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _0\hfill \\ & +R((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,_tu)_tu+_𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta \hfill \\ & +(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1R(\xi ,_tu)_tuR((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi ,_tu)_tu\hfill \\ & +(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1_𝒱(u)\xi _𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi .\hfill \end{array}$$
(133)
To finish the proof it remains to inspect the $`L^p`$ norm of this expression line by line. Using Lemma D.3, we obtain for the first line

$$\begin{array}{cc}& (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1(\epsilon ^2[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}]\eta +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta +\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\left(R(\xi ,_su)_tu\right))_p\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^2R_{\mathrm{}}_su_{\mathrm{}}_tu_{\mathrm{}}\eta _p+2\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & +\kappa _p\epsilon ^{3/2}R_{\mathrm{}}_su_{\mathrm{}}_tu_{\mathrm{}}\xi _p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(134)
Application of $`(\text{125})`$ with constant $`C_1:=C`$ results in an estimate for the second line in $`(\text{133})`$, namely

$$\epsilon (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1[{}_{s}{}^{},{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}]\xi _0_p\epsilon ^{1/2}C_1\xi _p+\epsilon ^{5/2}C_1{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p.$$
(135)
Lemma D.3 yields for line three in (133)

$$\begin{array}{cc}& R((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta ,_tu)_tu+_𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\hfill \\ & \left(R_{\mathrm{}}_tu_{\mathrm{}}^2+C\right)\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p,\hfill \end{array}$$
(136)
where $`C`$ is the constant in $`(V1)`$. Let us temporarily denote

$$T:=1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}.$$

Then the penultimate line in (133) has the form $`[T^1,\mathrm{\Phi }]=T^1[\mathrm{\Phi },T]T^1`$ where the endomorphism $`\mathrm{\Phi }:u^{}TMu^{}TM`$ is given by $`\mathrm{\Phi }\xi =R(\xi ,_tu)_tu`$. This term can be expressed in the form

$$[T^1,\mathrm{\Phi }]\xi =\epsilon T^1(({}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{\Phi })T^1\xi +2({}_{t}{}^{}\mathrm{\Phi })T^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi )$$

and hence

$$[T^1,\mathrm{\Phi }]\xi _p\epsilon ^{1/2}\kappa _pC\xi _p.$$

Thus

$$\begin{array}{cc}& (1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1R(\xi ,_tu)_tuR((1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi ,_tu)_tu_p\hfill \\ & \epsilon ^{1/2}\kappa _pC_2\xi _p,\hfill \end{array}$$
(137)
where $`C_2`$ depends on $`R_{C^2}`$ $`_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$, and $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$. Similarly,

$$(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1_𝒱(u)\xi _𝒱(u)(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})^1\xi _p\epsilon ^{1/2}\kappa _pC_3\xi _p,$$
(138)
where $`C_3`$ depends on the constants in $`(V1V3)`$ and on $`_tu_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$. The estimates (134-138) together give the desired $`L^p`$ bound for (133) and this proves the first claim of Proposition D.5. The estimate for $`(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta (\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta `$ follows analoguously. Since all constants appearing in the proof depend on $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of derivatives of $`u`$, they are invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$. This completes the proof of Proposition D.5. ∎

The next lemma establishes the relevant estimates for the operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ and its adjoint in the Morse–Smale case, i.e. when $`𝒟_u^0`$ is onto.

###### Lemma D.7.

Let $`𝒱:M`$ be a perturbation that satisfies $`(V0V4)`$. Assume $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse-Smale and let $`u^0(x^{},x^+;𝒱)`$. Then, for every $`p>1`$, there is a constant $`c>0`$ such that

$$\eta _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _pc(𝒟_u^0)^{}\eta _p$$

and

$$\xi _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc(\xi (𝒟_u^0)^{}\eta _p+𝒟_u^0\xi _p)$$

for all compactly supported vector fields $`\xi ,\eta \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$.

###### Proof.

By Theorem A.4, the operators $`𝒟_u^0`$ and $`(𝒟_u^0)^{}`$ are Fredholm. Since $`𝒮_𝒱`$ is Morse–Smale, the operator $`𝒟_u^0`$ is onto and $`(𝒟_u^0)^{}`$ is injective. Moreover, the operator

$$𝒲_u^p_u^p_u^p/\mathrm{im}(𝒟_u^0)^{}:\xi (𝒟_u^0\xi ,[\xi ])$$

is also an injective Fredholm operator. Hence the estimates follow from the open mapping theorem. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 3.3.

Fix a constant $`p>1`$. Then the $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of $`_su`$, $`_tu`$ and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u`$ are finite by Theorem A.1 and $`{}_{t}{}^{}_{s}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$ is finite by Theorem A.2. Use the parabolic equations for $`u`$ to conclude that $`{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}_{t}^{}u_{\mathrm{}}`$ is finite as well. Hence we are in a position to apply Theorem 3.2 and Proposition D.5. We prove the estimate in two steps.

Step 1. There are positive constants $`c_1=c_1(p)`$ and $`\epsilon _0=\epsilon _0(p)`$ such that

$$\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\xi _p+\epsilon ^{1/2}\eta _pc_1\left(\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p\right)$$
(139)
for every $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$ and every compactly supported vector field $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$.

By Lemmata D.4 and D.7, there exists a constant $`c_2=c_2(p)>0`$ such that

$$\xi _p+{}_{s}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _p+{}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _pc_2(𝒟_u^0)^{}\xi _p$$
(140)
for every compactly supported $`\xi \mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TM)`$. Hence

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \xi _p& \xi \pi _\epsilon \zeta _p+\pi _\epsilon \zeta _p\hfill \\ & \xi \pi _\epsilon \zeta _p+c_2(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta _p\hfill \\ & \xi \pi _\epsilon \zeta _p+c_2(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta \pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p+c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p\hfill \\ & (\kappa _p+c_2c_3)\epsilon \left(\epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi \eta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\right)+c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p\hfill \\ & +c_2c_3\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right)\hfill \\ & (\kappa _p+c_2c_3)c_4\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p\hfill \\ & +(c_2c_3+\kappa _pc_4+c_2c_3c_4)\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right)\hfill \end{array}$$

In the fourth step we have used Lemma D.6 and Proposition D.5 with a constant $`c_3=c_3(p)>0`$. The final step follows from Theorem 3.2 for the formal adjoint operator with a constant $`c_4=c_4(p)>0`$. Choose $`\epsilon _0>0`$ so small that

$$(c_2c_3+\kappa _pc_4+c_2c_3c_4)\epsilon _{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{1/2}<\frac{1}{2}.$$
(141)
Then we can incorporate the term $`\xi _p`$ into the left hand side and obtain

$$\xi _p2(\kappa _p+c_2c_3)c_4\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+2c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p+\epsilon ^{3/2}\eta _p.$$
(142)
Similarly,

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \eta _p& \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta _p+{}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta _p\hfill \\ & \eta {}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta _p+c_2(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta _p\hfill \\ & (\kappa _p+c_2c_3\epsilon ^{1/2})c_4\epsilon ^{1/2}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p\hfill \\ & +(c_2c_3+\kappa _pc_4+c_2c_3c_4\epsilon ^{1/2})\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p\right).\hfill \end{array}$$

Use (141) again to obtain

$$\eta _p2(\kappa _p+c_2c_3)c_4\epsilon ^{1/2}(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+2c_2\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _p+\xi _p.$$
(143)
The assertion of Step 1 now follows from (143) and (142).

Step 2 We prove the theorem.

Let $`\epsilon (0,\epsilon _0)`$. By (114) for the formal adjoint operator (with a constant $`c_5>0`$), we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \zeta _{1,p,\epsilon }& c_5\epsilon ^2(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+c_5\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \\ & c_5(\epsilon ^2+c_1\epsilon +2\kappa _pc_1)(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \end{array}$$
(144)
Here we have also used the estimate (139) of Step 1 and Lemma D.6. It follows that $`(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}`$ is injective and hence $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$ is onto.

Let $`\zeta =(\xi ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }^0(\times S^1,u^{}TMu^{}TM)`$ be compactly supported and denote

$$\zeta ^{}:=(\xi ^{},\eta ^{}):=(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta .$$

Recall that $`c_6`$ is the constant of Lemma D.7 and $`c_3`$ is the constant of Proposition D.5. By Lemma D.7, with $`\xi =\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}`$ and $`\eta =\pi _\epsilon \zeta `$, we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p& c_6\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}(𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta _p+c_6𝒟_u^0\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & c_6\pi _\epsilon (𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}\zeta (𝒟_u^0)^{}\pi _\epsilon \zeta _p+c_6𝒟_u^0\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & +c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & c_3c_6\left(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi _p+\epsilon ^2\eta _p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p\right)+c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & +c_3c_6(\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi ^{}_p+\epsilon ^2\eta ^{}_p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\eta _p)\hfill \\ & 2c_3c_6(1+c_4\epsilon ^{1/2})\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta _{0,p,\epsilon }+c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & +3c_3c_6(1+c_4\epsilon ^{1/2})\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+c_3c_4c_6\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \\ & c_7\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+c_3c_4c_6\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p.\hfill \end{array}$$
(145)
The fourth step follows by applying Theorem 3.2 twice, with the constant $`c_4`$, namely for the operator $`(𝒟_u^\epsilon )^{}`$ to deal with the term $`{}_{t}{}^{}\eta `$, and for the operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$ to deal with the term $`{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{}`$. The final step follows from (144).

Now it follows from Lemma D.6 that

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }& \zeta ^{}\iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+\iota \pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \\ & 2\kappa _p\epsilon \left(\epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{}\eta ^{}_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{}_p\right)+\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p+\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & 2\kappa _pc_4\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+\pi _\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p+(2\kappa _p+4\kappa _pc_4)\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \\ & c_4(2\kappa _p+c_3c_6)\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+(c_7+2\kappa _p+4\kappa _pc_4)\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \\ & +c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p.\hfill \end{array}$$

The third step follows from Theorem 3.2 for the operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$ and Lemma D.3. The final step uses $`(\text{145})`$. Choosing $`\epsilon _0>0`$ sufficiently small, we obtain

$$\xi ^{}_p\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }2c_4(2\kappa _p+c_3c_6)\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+2c_6\pi _\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_p.$$
(146)
By (114), we have

$$\zeta ^{}_{1,p,\epsilon }c_5\left(\epsilon ^2𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\right).$$

Combining this with (146) we obtain (15).

We prove (14). By the triangle inequality and Lemmata D.6 and D.3, we have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \eta ^{}_p& \eta ^{}{}_{t}{}^{}\pi _{\epsilon }^{}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+{}_{t}{}^{}(1\mathrm{l}\epsilon {}_{t}{}^{}{}_{t}{}^{})_{}^{1}(\xi ^{}\epsilon ^2{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{})_p\hfill \\ & \kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}\left(\epsilon ^1{}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{}\eta ^{}_p+{}_{t}{}^{}\eta _{}^{}_p\right)+\kappa _p\epsilon ^{1/2}\xi ^{}_p+2\epsilon \eta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & \kappa _pc_4\epsilon ^{1/2}𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+2\kappa _p(1+c_4\epsilon )\epsilon ^{1/2}\zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }\hfill \end{array}$$

The last step follows from Theorem 3.2 for the operator $`𝒟_u^\epsilon `$. Similarly,

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{}_p& {}_{t}{}^{}\xi _{}^{}\eta ^{}_p+\eta ^{}_p\hfill \\ & c_5\epsilon 𝒟_u^\epsilon \zeta ^{}_{0,p,\epsilon }+c_5\epsilon \xi ^{}_p+(1+c_5\epsilon ^3)\eta ^{}_p.\hfill \end{array}$$

Combining the last two estimates with (146) proves (14). Since all constants appearing in the proof depend on $`L^{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of derivatives of $`u`$, they are invariant under $`s`$-shifts of $`u`$. This proves Theorem 3.3. ∎

Acknowledgement. Thanks to Katrin Wehrheim for pointing out to us the work of Marcinkiewicz and Mihlin and to Tom Ilmanen for providing the idea for the proof of Lemma B.2.