Characterization of the strong closure of \(C^ \infty(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) in \(W^{1,p}(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) (\({16\over 5}\leq p < 4\)) (Q1892538)

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Characterization of the strong closure of \(C^ \infty(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) in \(W^{1,p}(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) (\({16\over 5}\leq p < 4\))
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    Characterization of the strong closure of \(C^ \infty(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) in \(W^{1,p}(B^ 4;S^ 2)\) (\({16\over 5}\leq p < 4\)) (English)
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    11 July 1995
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    Let \(M\) and \(N\) be compact Riemannian manifolds with \(N\subset {\mathbb{R}}^k\). Let \(W^{1,p}(M; {\mathbb{R}}^k)\) denote the standard Sobolev space, and let \[ W^{1, p}(M; N)= \{u\in W^{1, p}(M; {\mathbb{R}}^k): u(x)\in N\text{ a.e.}\}. \] By work of \textit{F. Bethuel} [Acta Math. 167, No. 3 4, 153-206 (1991; Zbl 0756.46017)], \textit{F. Bethuel} and \textit{X. Zheng} [J. Funct. Anal. 80, No. 1, 60-75 (1988; Zbl 0657.46027)] and of \textit{R. Schoen} and \textit{K. Uhlenbeck} [J. Differ. Geom. 18, 253-268 (1983; Zbl 0547.58020)], it is known that \(C^\infty(M; N)\) is dense in \(W^{1, p}(M; N)\) when \(p\geq \dim M\) or when \(1\leq p< \dim M\) and \(\pi_{[p]}(N)= 0\). It is therefore interesting to characterize the closure of \(C^\infty(M; N)\) in \(W^{1, p}(M; N)\) in the case when \(p< \dim M\) and \(\pi_{[p]}(N)\neq 0\). The author gives a characterization of this closure when \(M= {\mathbf B}^4\) (or \(\overline{{\mathbf B}}^4\)) (the open (closed) unit ball in \({\mathbb{R}}^4\)), \(N= {\mathbf S}^2\) and \({16\over 5}\leq p< 4\). In this case, it is shown that a Sobolev map \(u\) can be approximated by smooth maps if and only if \((u^* \omega)\wedge (u^* \omega)= 0\), where \(\omega\) is a generator of the second de Rham cohomology group of \({\mathbf S}^2\) and \((u^* \omega)\wedge (u^* \omega)\) is given meaning as a 4-form valued distribution. When \(M= \overline{{\mathbf B}}^4\) and \(u\) coincide with a smooth map \(\varphi\) on \(\partial M\), we can furthermore approximate \(u\) with smooth maps which also coincide with \(\varphi\) on \(\partial M\). Finally, the author states that the above results carries over to the case when \(M\) is a general compact four-dimensional Riemannian manifold with or without boundary.
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    Sobolev map
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    second de Rham cohomology
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    4-form valued distribution
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    compact four-dimensional Riemannian manifold with or without boundary
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