Smooth approximations in PL geometry

Abstract: Let

Y s u b s e t {m a t h b b R}^{n}

be a triangulable set and let

r

be either a positive integer or

r = i n f t y

. We say that

Y

is a

m a t h s c r C^{r}

-approximation target space, or a

m a t h s c r C^{r} e x t - m a t h t t a t s

for short, if it has the following universal approximation property: For each

m i n m a t h b b N

and each locally compact subset

X

of~

{m a t h b b R}^{m}

, any continuous map

f : X o Y

can be approximated by

m a t h s c r C^{r}

maps

g : X o Y

with respect to the strong

m a t h s c r C^{0}

Whitney topology. Taking advantage of new approximation techniques we prove: if

Y

is weakly

m a t h s c r C^{r}

triangulable, then

Y

is a

m a t h s c r C^{r} e x t - m a t h t t a t s

. This result applies to relevant classes of triangulable sets, namely: (1) every locally compact polyhedron is a

m a t h s c r C^{i} n f t y e x t - m a t h t t a t s

, (2) every set that is locally

m a t h s c r C^{r}

equivalent to a polyhedron is a

m a t h s c r C^{r} e x t - m a t h t t a t s

, and (3) every locally compact locally definable set of an arbitrary o-minimal structure is a

m a t h s c r C^{1} e x t - m a t h t t a t s

(this includes locally compact locally semialgebraic sets and locally compact subanalytic sets). In addition, we prove: if

Y

is a global analytic set, then each proper continuous map

f : X o Y

can be approximated by proper

m a t h s c r C^{i} n f t y

maps

g : X o Y

. Explicit examples show the sharpness of our results.

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