Counting zeros of closed 1-forms

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The paper suggests new topological lower bounds for the number of zeros of closed 1-forms within a given cohomology class. The main new technical tool is the deformation complex, which allows to pass to a singular limit and reduce the original problem with a closed 1-form to a traditional problem with a Morse function. We show by examples that the suggested approach may provide stronger estimates than the Novikov inequalities. The technique of the paper also applies to study topology of the set of zeros of closed 1-forms under Bott non-degeneracy assumptions.