A curve selection lemma in spaces of arcs and the image of the Nash map

Abstract

We prove a finiteness result in the space of arcs . As a consequence, we extend to all dimensions the problem of wedges, proposed by Lejeune-Jalabert (Arcs analytiques et résolution minimale des singularités des surfaces quasi-homogénes, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 777 (Springer, Berlin, 1980), 303–336), and we obtain that an affirmative answer to this problem is equivalent to the surjectivity of the Nash map. This implies, for instance, that the Nash map is bijective for sandwiched surface singularities.