An Abstract Perturbation Theorem for Compact Moduli Spaces

Given a compact zero set of a Fredholm section, our theorem guarantees the existence of a perturbed compact smooth manifold nearby, leaving the original zero set unaltered wherever transversality is already achieved. Such abstract perturbations allow for typical cobordism arguments. We illustrate this by re-proving a well-known theorem of Schwarz asserting the existence of critical points of the Hamiltonian action functional of different action values on symplectically aspherical manifolds.