Smooth selection for infinite sets (Q2166341)

The paper under review is related to the classical Whitney problem. Given a compact subset \(E\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\) and given \(f:E\to C^m(\mathbb{R})\), how can we tell if there exists \(F\in C^m(\mathbb{R}^n)\) such that \(f=F|_E\)? More specifically, the authors deal with the following related problems. Problem 1.1. Given a closed subset \(E\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\) and given \(f:E\to \mathbb{R}\), how can we tell if there exists \(F\in C^m(\mathbb{R}^n)\) such that \(F\geq 0\) and \(f=F|_E\)? Problem 1.2. Given \(n,m\in\mathbb{N}\), extended real numbers \(-\infty\leq \lambda_1\leq \lambda_2\leq \infty\) and a closed subset \(E\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\), and given \(f:E\to [\lambda_1,\lambda_2]\cap \mathbb{R}\), how can we tell if there exists \(F\in C^m(\mathbb{R}^n)\) such that \(\lambda_1\leq F\leq \lambda_2\) and \(f=F|_E\)? The authors study a more general problem in order to give solutions to the Problems~1.1 and~1.2. The main result is stated in terms of the iterated Glaeser refinement of a bundle formed by taking potential Taylor polynomials at each point of \(E\).