We define the deformation multiplicity of a map germ f: (Cn, 0) → (Cp, 0) with respect to a Boardman symbol i of codimension less than or equal to n and establish a geometrical interpretation of this number in terms of the set of Σi points that appear in a generic deformation of f. Moreover, this number is equal to the algebraic multiplicity of f with respect to i when the corresponding associated ring is Cohen-Macaulay. Finally, we study how algebraic multiplicity behaves with weighted homogeneous map germs.
Polynomial factorization and the Q-D algorithm
