Higher Jacobian ideals, contact equivalence and motivic zeta functions

Abstract: We show basic properties of higher Jacobian matrices and higher Jacobian ideals for functions and apply it to obtain two results concerning singularities of functions. Firstly, we prove that a higher Nash blowup algebra is invariant under contact equivalences, which was recently conjectured by Hussain, Ma, Yau and Zuo. Secondly, we obtain an analogue of a result on motivic nearby cycles by Bussi, Joyce and Meinhardt.