Smooth Extension of Locally Defined Function on Manifold

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the method of extending a locally defined function on a manifold to a smooth function over the entire manifold, specifically through the use of bump functions and partitions of unity. The scope includes theoretical aspects of differential geometry and smooth functions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the process of extending a locally defined function using a bump function.
  • Another participant suggests that partitions of unity are typically used for such extensions and questions the role of bump functions, noting their common definition in ℝn.
  • A participant cites a text indicating that if a function F is smooth in a neighborhood of a point x, it can be multiplied by a bump function to extend it to the manifold M, which is a differential manifold with local coordinates.
  • A detailed example is provided where a function F defined on a coordinate chart is extended using a bump function that is equal to 1 on a closed subset and has support in a larger open subset, leading to a smooth extension F'.
  • Another participant expresses gratitude for the explanation, indicating it was helpful.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the use of bump functions versus partitions of unity, and there is ongoing exploration of the method of extension. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the preferred approach.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the definitions of bump functions and their applicability to manifolds, as well as the specific conditions under which the extensions are considered smooth.

hedipaldi
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how to extend a locally defined function to a smooth function on the whole manifold ,by using a bump function?
 
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AFAIK, partitions of unity are used to extend. I have not seen bump functions, since I think these are defined on ℝn, and are real-valued. Could you tell us the method you are referring to?
 
Hi,
i quote from the text:If F is a smooth function on a neighbourhood of x,we can multiply it by a bump function to extend it to M ".here M is a differential manifold so there are local coordinates at each point.F is a real function.
i don't see how such an extention is done.
thank's
Hedi
 
hedipaldi said:
Hi,
i quote from the text:If F is a smooth function on a neighbourhood of x,we can multiply it by a bump function to extend it to M ".here M is a differential manifold so there are local coordinates at each point.F is a real function.
i don't see how such an extention is done.
thank's
Hedi

For instance, say F is defined on a coordinate chart U diffeomorphic to R^n. Let D(1) be the closed subset of U corresponding to the closed unit disk under the coordinate map, and let B(2) be the open subset of U corresponding to the open disk of radius 2 under the coordinate map. Then you know there is a smooth bump function b that is equal to 1 on all of D(1), and has support in B(2), right? So define F', an "extension" of F, by setting

F'(x):=b(x)F(x) if x is in U
F'(x)=0 otherwise

It is obvious that F' is smooth since it is smooth on U and it is smooth "away from U": the only potentially problematic points are at the boundary of U. But at those points, F' is locally identically 0 by construction so all is well.

Now F' is not an extension of F in the strictest sense since we have modified it outside of D(1). But for many purposes, this is just fine.
 
It was very helpfull indeed.Thank"s a lot.
Hedi
 

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