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Invariance property of Morse homology on noncompact manifolds

In this article, we focus on the invariance property of Morse homology on noncompact manifolds. We expect to apply outcomes of this article to several types of Floer homology, thus we define Morse homology purely axiomatically and algebraically. The Morse homology on noncompact manifolds generally depends on the choice of Morse functions; it is easy to see that critical points may escape along homotopies of Morse functions on noncompact manifolds. Even worse, homology classes also can escape along homotopies even though critical points are alive. The aim of the article is two fold. First, we give an example which breaks the invariance property by the escape of homology classes and find appropriate growth conditions on homotopies which prevent such an escape. This takes advantage of the bifurcation method. Another goal is to apply the first results to the invariance problem of Rabinowitz Floer homology. The bifurcation method for Rabinowitz Floer homology, however, is not worked out yet. Thus believing that the bifurcation method is applicable to Rabinowitz Floer homology, we study the invariance problems of Rabinowitz Floer homology.