2.II.13F
For a smooth mapping , the Jacobian at a point is defined as the determinant of the derivative , viewed as a linear map . Suppose that maps into a curve in the plane, in the sense that is a composition of two smooth mappings . Show that the Jacobian of is identically zero.
Conversely, let be a smooth mapping whose Jacobian is identically zero. Write . Suppose that . Show that on some open neighbourhood of and that on
for some smooth function defined on . Now suppose that is a smooth curve of the form such that is constant. Write down a differential equation satisfied by . Apply an existence theorem for differential equations to show that there is a neighbourhood of such that every point in lies on a curve on which is constant.
[A function is said to be smooth when it is infinitely differentiable. Detailed justification of the smoothness of the functions in question is not expected.]