Some problems in the theory of ridge functions (Q1798075)

Let \(d\geq 2\) and \(E\subset {\mathbb R}^d\) be a set. A ridge function on \(E\) is a function of the form \(\phi({\mathbf a}\cdot {\mathbf x})\), where \({\mathbf x}=(x_1,\dots, x_d)\in E\), \({\mathbf a}=(a_1,\dots, a_d)\in {\mathbb R}^d\setminus\{{\mathbf 0}\}\), \({\mathbf a}\cdot {\mathbf x}= \sum_{j=1}^d a_j x_j\), and \(\phi\) is a real-valued function. Ridge functions play an important role in approximation theory and mathematical physics and in the solution of applied problems. The paper contains a survey on the problems of representation of approximation of multidimensional functions by finite sums of ridge functions. The main topics of the paper are: 1) Finite sums of ridge functions: continuity, smoothness, and various representations; 2) Approximation by finite sums of ridge functions; 3) Generalizations and analogues of ridge functions.