Smooth limits of piecewise-linear approximations (Q1314521)

The authors consider particular types of discrete approximations to tensor fields on manifolds suggested by triangulations. The approximations are objects of finite geometrical extent, parametrized by a finite set of numbers, so they are suitable for numerical computations. Then they study the limiting behaviour of sequences of approximations and construct the theory so that the limits are tensor fields on manifolds. They propose a Cauchy criterion of their approximations, which guarantees convergence to a limit. The specific examples include geodesic approximation to Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.