Differentiable functions defined in closed sets. A problem of Whitney (Q1401471)

\noindent Consider a function \( f: X\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \), where \( X \) is a closed subset of \( {\mathbb R}^n \). In 1934, Whitney raised the question of how to recognize, using only the values of \( f \), whether \( f \) is the restriction of a function of class \( C^p \) in \( {\mathbb R}^n \). For \( n=1 \), he gave a necessary and sufficient condition using finite differences. In 1958, Glaeser solved the problem in higher dimensions in the case \( p=1 \): he defined a paratangent bundle \( \tau(X) \) using limits of secants and proved that a continuous function \( f: X\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \) is the restriction of a \( C^1 \) function if and only if the paratangent bundle \( \tau(f) \) of the graph of \( f \) is, itself, the graph of a function \( \tau(X)\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \). In the important paper under review, the authors define higher-order paratagent bundles \( \tau^p(X) \) using limits of finite differences. Each fibre \( \tau_a^p(X) \), \( a\in X \), is a linear subspace of the dual space \( {\mathcal P}_p^* \) of the space \( {\mathcal P}_p \) of polynomials of degree at most \( p\). With each function \( f: X\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \), they also associate a bundle \( \nabla^pf\subset \tau^p(X)\times {\mathbb R} \) such that if \( f \) is the restriction to \( X\) of a \( C^p \) function, then \( \nabla^p f \) defines a graph \( \tau^p(X)\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \). The authors show that the converse is true when \( X \) is a \( C^p \) submanifold, or more generally a fat subset of a \( C^p \) submanifold. It is thus natural to conjecture that it is always true, at least for subsets \( X \) with a ``tame'' geometry. The authors obtain an interesting result in this direction when \( X \) is a compact subanalytic subset of \( {\mathbb R}^n \): indeed, one can then find a number \( q_X(p) \) such that, if \( q\geq q_X(p) \) and \( \nabla^qf \) defines a graph \( \tau^p(X)\rightarrow {\mathbb R} \), then \( f \) extends to a \( C^p \) function. The proof uses the uniformization theorem for subanalytic sets and a previous result of the authors on formal composite functions [Duke Math. J. 83, 607-620 (1996; Zbl 0868.32011)]. It should be noted that the paratangent bundles presented in the paper also provide a new viewpoint on bundles of differential operators on singular spaces.