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. 2017 Nov 23;10(1):133–154. doi: 10.1007/s11868-017-0230-z

Colombeau algebras without asymptotics

Eduard A Nigsch 1,
PMCID: PMC6373394  PMID: 30828296

Abstract

We present a construction of algebras of generalized functions of Colombeau-type which, instead of asymptotic estimates with respect to a regularization parameter, employs only topological estimates on certain spaces of kernels for its definition.

Keywords: Nonlinear generalized functions, Colombeau algebras, Asymptotic estimates, Elementary Colombeau algebra, Diffeomorphism invariance

Introduction

Colombeau algebras, as introduced by Colombeau [1, 2], today represent the most widely studied approach to embedding the space of Schwartz distributions into an algebra of generalized functions such that the product of smooth functions as well as partial derivatives of distributions are preserved. These algebras have found numerous applications in situations involving singular objects, differentiation and nonlinear operations (see, e.g., [9, 12, 15]).

All constructions of Colombeau algebras so far incorporate certain asymptotic estimates for the definition of the spaces of moderate and negligible functions, the quotient of which constitutes the algebra. There is a certain degree of freedom in the asymptotic scale employed for these estimates; while commonly a polynomial scale is used, generalizations in several directions are possible. For an overview we refer to works on asymptotic scales [3, 7], (C,E,P)-algebras [5], sequence spaces with exponent weights [6] and asymptotic gauges [8].

In this article we will present an algebra of generalized functions which instead of asymptotic estimates employs only topological estimates on certain spaces of kernels for its definition. This is a direct generalization of the usual seminorm estimates valid for distributions.

We will first develop the most general setting in the local scalar case, namely that of diffeomorphism invariant full Colombeau algebras. We will then derive a simpler variant, similar to Colombeau’s elementary algebra. Finally, we give canonical mappings into the most important Colombeau algebras, which points to a certain universality of the construction offered here.

Preliminaries

N and N0 denote the sets of positive and non-negative integers, respectively, and R+ the set of nonnegative real numbers. Concerning distribution theory we use the notation and terminology of L. Schwartz [18].

Given any subsets K,LRn (with nN) the relation KL means that K is compact and contained in the interior L of L.

Let ΩRn be open. C(Ω) is the space of complex-valued smooth functions on Ω. For any K,LΩ, m,lN0 and any bounded subset BC(Ω) we set

||f||K,m:=supxK,αmαf(x)(fC(Ω)),||φ||K,m;L,l:=supxK,αmyL,βlxαyβφ(x)(y)(φC(Ω,D(Ω))),||φ||K,m;B:=supxK,αmfBf(y),xαφ(x)(y)(φC(Ω,E(Ω))).

Note that ||·||K,m, ||·||K,m;L,l and ||·||K,m;B are continuous seminorms on the respective spaces.

We define δC(Ω,E(Ω)) by δ(x):=δx for xΩ, where δx is the delta distribution at x.

DL(Ω) is the space of test functions on Ω with support in L. For two locally convex spaces E and F, L(E,F) denotes the space of linear continuous mappings from E to F, endowed with the topology of bounded convergence. By Ux(Ω) we denote the filter base of open neighborhoods of a point x in Ω, and by UK(Ω) the filter base of open neighborhoods of K. By csn(E) we denote the set of continuous seminorms of a locally convex space E. Br(x):={yRn:||y-x||<r} is the open Euclidean ball of radius r>0 at xRn, and for any subset KRn we define Br(K):=xKBr(x).

Our notion of smooth functions between arbitrary locally convex spaces is that of convenient calculus [11]. In particular, dkf denotes the k-th differential of a smooth mapping f.

Construction of the algebra

Throughout this section let ΩRn be a fixed open set. Let C be the category of locally convex spaces with smooth mappings in the sense of convenient calculus as morphisms.

Definition 1

Consider C(-,D(Ω)) and C(-) as sheaves with values in C. We define the basic space of nonlinear generalized functions on Ω to be the set of sheaf homomorphisms

B(Ω):=Hom(C(-,D(Ω)),C(-)).

Hence, an element of B(Ω) is given by a family (RU)U of mappings

RUC(C(U,D(Ω)),C(U))(UΩopen)

satisfying RU(φ)|V=RV(φ|V) for all open subsets VU and φC(U,D(Ω)). We will casually write R in place of RU.

Remark 2

The basic space B(Ω) can be identified with the set of all mappings RC(C(Ω,D(Ω)),C(Ω)) such that for any open subset UΩ and φ,ψC(Ω,D(Ω)) the equality φ|U=ψ|U implies R(φ)|U=R(ψ)|U (cf. [10]).

B(Ω) is a C(Ω)-module with multiplication

(f·R)U(φ)=f|U·RU(φ)

for RB(Ω), fC(Ω), UΩ open and φC(U,D(Ω)). Moreover, it is an associative commutative algebra with product (R·S)U(φ):=RU(φ)·SU(φ).

A distribution uD(Ω) defines a sheaf morphism from C(-,D(Ω)) to C(-). In fact, for UΩ open and φC(U,D(Ω)) the function xu,φ(x) is an element of C(U) (see [18, Chap. IV, §1, Th. II, p. 105] or [20, Theorem 40.2, p. 416]). More abstractly, this can be seen using the theory of topological tensor products [16, 17, 20] as follows:

C(U,D(Ω))C(U)^D(Ω)L(D(Ω),C(U)),

where C(U)^D(Ω) denotes the completed projective tensor product of C(U) and D(Ω). The assignment φu,φ is smooth, being linear and continuous [11, 1.3, p. 9]. Hence, we have the following embeddings of distributions and smooth functions into B(Ω):

Definition 3

We define ι:D(Ω)B(Ω) and σ:C(Ω)B(Ω) by

(ιu)(φ)(x):=u,φ(x)(uD(Ω))(σf)(φ)(x):=f(x)(fC(Ω))

for φC(U,D(Ω)) with UΩ open and xU.

Clearly ι is linear and σ is an algebra homomorphism. Directional derivatives on B(Ω) then are defined as follows:

Definition 4

Let XC(Ω,Rn) be a smooth vector field and RB(Ω). We define derivatives D~X:B(Ω)B(Ω) and D^X:B(Ω)B(Ω) by

(D~XR)(φ):=DX(RU(φ))(D^XR)(φ):=-dRU(φ)(DXSKφ)+DX(RU(φ))

for φC(U,D(Ω)) with UΩ open, where we set

DXSKφ:=DXφ+DXwφ.

Here, (DXφ)(x) is the directional derivative of φ at x in direction X(x) and (DXωφ)(x) is the Lie derivative of φ(x) considered as a differential form, given by DXω(φ(x))=DX(φ(x))+(DivX)(x)·φ(x).

Note that both D~X and D^X satisfy the Leibniz rule. We have

D~xσ=σD~X,D^Xσ=σD^X,D^Xι=ιD^X.

While D~X is C(Ω)-linear in X, D^X is only C-linear in X. We refer to [13, 14] for a discussion of the role of these derivatives in differential geometry.

Definition 5

For kN0 we set

Pk:=R+[y0,,yk],Ik:={λR+[y0,,yk,z0,,zk]|λ(y0,,yk,0,,0)=0}.

More explicitly, Pk is the commutative semiring of polynomials in the k+1 commuting variables y0,,yk with coefficients in R+. Similarly, Ik is the commutative semiring in the 2(k+1) commuting variables y0,,yk,z0,,zk with coefficients in R+ and such that, if λIk is given by the finite sum

λ=α,βN0k+1λαβyαzβ,

then λα0=0 for all α. Note that Pk is a subsemiring of Pk+1 and Ik a subsemiring of Ik+1. Furthermore, Ik is an ideal in Pk if Pk is considered as a subsemiring of R+[y0,,yk,z0,,zk]. Given λPk and yiyi for i=0k we have λ(y)λ(y). For λ,μPk we write λμ if λ(y)μ(y) for all y(R+)k+1, and similarly for λ,μIk.

We can now formulate the following definitions of moderateness and negligibility, not involving any asymptotic estimates:

Definition 6

An element RB(Ω) is called moderate if

(xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λPk)(φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U))):||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l).

The subset of all moderate elements of B(Ω) is denoted by M(Ω).

Definition 7

An element RB(Ω) is called negligible if

(xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λIk)(BC(Ω)bounded)(φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U))):||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ1||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B).

The subset of all negligible elements of B(Ω) is denoted by N(Ω).

It is worthwile to discuss possible simplifications of these definitions, which at this stage should be considered more as a proof of concept than as the definite form they should have. First, we note that we cannot replace (xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU) by (K,LΩ). In fact, in the second case K and L can be distant from each other, while in the first case it suffices to control the situation where K and L are close to each other. However, the following result shows that we can always assume KL and that the φ0,,φk are given merely on an arbitrary open neighborhood of K, i.e., as elements of the direct limit C(K,DL(Ω)):=limVUK(Ω)C(V,DL(Ω)):

Proposition 8

Let RB(Ω). Then R is moderate if and only if

(xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU:KL)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λPk)(φ0,,φkC(K,DL(U))):||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l).

Similarly, R is negligible if and only if

(xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU:KL)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λIk)(BC(U)bounded)(φ0,,φkC(K,DL(U))):||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ1||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B).

Proof

Obviously each of these conditions is weaker than the corresponding one of Definition 6 or Definition 7.

Suppose we are given RB(Ω) such that the condition stated for moderateness holds. Given xΩ there hence exists some UUx(Ω). Now given arbitrary K,LU we choose a set LU such that KLL. Fixing m,kN0 for the moderateness test, for (K,L) we hence obtain c,lN0 and λPk. Now fix some φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)); each of those represents an element of C(K,DL(U)), whence we have the estimate

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l)

where the last equality follows because the φ0,,φk take values in DL(U). This shows that R is moderate.

For the case of negligibility we proceed similarly until we obtain c,lN0, λIk and BC(U). Let χD(U) be such that χ1 on a neighborhood of L and set B:={χf|fB}C(Ω), which is bounded. For any φ0,,φk we then obtain

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ1||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ1||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B)

which proves negligibility of R.

If the test of Definition 6, Definition 7 or Definition 8 holds on some U then clearly it also holds on any open subset of U. The following characterization of moderateness and negligiblity is obtained by applying polarization identities to the differentials of R:

Lemma 9

Let RB(Ω).

  • (i)
    R is moderate if and only if
    (xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λPmin(1,k))(φ,ψC(U,DL(U))):||dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l)ifk=0,λ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||ψ||K,c;L,l)ifk1.
  • (ii)
    R is negligible if and only if
    (xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU)(m,kN0)(c,lN0)(λImin(1,k))(BC(Ω)bounded)(φ,ψC(U,DL(U))):||dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||φ-δ||K,c;B)ifk=0,λ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||ψ||K,c;L,l,||φ-δ||K,c;B,||ψ||K,c;B)ifk1.

Proof

We assume k1, as for k=0 the statements are identical. (i) “”: One obtains λPk such that

||dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||ψ||K,c;L,l,,||ψ||K,c;L,l)=λ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||ψ||K,c;L,l)

with λP1 given by λ(y0,y1)=λ(y0,y1,,y1).

”: One obtains λP1. We then use the polarization identity [19, eq. (7), p. 471]

dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)=1n!a=1k(-1)k-aJ{1k}J=aΔ(dkR(φ0))(SJ)

where SJ:=iJφi and we have set Δ(dkR(φ0))(ψ)=dkR(φ0)(ψ,,ψ).

Hence,

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,m1n!a=1kJ=a||Δ(dkR(φ0))(SJ)||K,m1n!a=1kJ=aλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,||SJ||K,c;L,l)1n!a=1kJ=aλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,iJ||φi||K,c;L,l)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l)

with λPk given by

λ(y0,,yk)=1n!a=1kJ=aλ(y0,iJyi).

(ii) “”: We have λIk such that

||dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||ψ||K,c;L,l,,||ψ||K,c;L,l,||φ-δ||K,c;B,||ψ||K,c;B,,||ψ||K,c;B)=λ(||φ||K,c;L;l,||ψ||K,c;L,l,||φ-δ||K,c;B,||ψ||K,c;B)

with λIk given by

λ(y0,y1,z0,z1)=λ(y0,y1,,y1,z0,z1,,z1).

”: We obtain λI1 such that, as above,

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,m1n!a=1kJ=aλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,||SJ||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||SJ||K,c;B)1n!a=1kJ=aλ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,iJ||φi||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,iJ||φi||K,c;B)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ1||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B)

with λIk given by

λ(y0,,yk,z0,,zk)=1n!a=1kJ=aλy0,iJyi,z0,iJzi.

Note that the polarization identities could be applied also in the formulation of Proposition 8.

Proposition 10

N(Ω)M(Ω).

Proof

Let RN(Ω) and fix xΩ for the moderateness test. By negligibility of R there exists UUx(Ω) as in Definition 7. Let K,LU and m,kN0 be arbitrary. Then there exist c,l,λ and B such that the estimate of Definition 7 holds. We know that λIk is given by a finite sum

λ(y0,,yk,z0,,zk)=α,βλαβyαzβ.

It suffices to show that there are λ1,λ2P0 such that for any φC(U,DL(U)) we have the estimates

||φ-δ||K,c;Bλ1(||φ||K,c;L,l), 1
||φ||K,c;Bλ2(||φ||K,c;L,l). 2

In fact, these inequalities imply

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mα,βλαβ||φ0||K,c;L,lα0··||φk||K,c;L,lαk·||φ0-δ||K,c;Bβ0·||φ1||K,c;Bβ1··||φk||K,c;Bβkα,βλαβ||φ0||K,c;L,lα0··||φk||K,c;L,lαk·λ1(||φ0||K,c;L,l)β0·λ2(||φ1||K,c;L,l)β1λ2(||φk||K,c;L,l)βk=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l)

with λPk given by

λ(y0,,yk)=λαβyαλ1(y0)β0λ2(y1)β1λ2(yk)βk.

Inequality (1) is seen as follows:

||φ-δ||K,c;B=supxK,αcfBLf(y)xαφ(x)(y)dy-αf(x)L·supfB||f||L,0·||φ||K,c;L,l+supfB||f||K,c=λ1(||φ||K,c;L,l)

with λ1(y0)=L·supfB||f||L,0·y0+supfB||f||K,c, where L denotes the Lebesgue measure of L. Similarly, inequality (2) results from

||φ||K,c;B=supxK,αcfBLf(y)xαφ(x)(y)dyL·supfB||f||L,0·||φ||K,c;L,l=λ2(||φ||K,c;L,l)

with λ2(y0)=L·supfB||f||L,0·y0.

Proposition 11

M(Ω) is a subalgebra of B(Ω) and N(Ω) is an ideal in M(Ω).

Proof

This is evident from the definitions.

Theorem 12

Let uD(Ω) and fC(Ω). Then

  • (i)

    ιu is moderate,

  • (ii)

    σf is moderate,

  • (iii)

    ιf-σf is negligible, and

  • (iv)

    if ιu is negligible then u=0.

Proof

(i): Fix x for the moderateness test and let UUx(Ω) be arbitrary. Fix any K,LU and mN0. Then there are constants C=C(L)R+ and l=l(L)N0 such that u,φC||φ||L,l for all φDL(Ω). Hence, we see that

||(ιu)(φ0)||K,m=||u,φ0||K,m=supxK,αmu,xαφ0(x)C·supxK,αmyL,βlxαyβφ0(x)(y)=C||φ0||K,m;L,l=λ(||φ0||K,m;L,l).

with λ(y0)=Cy0. Moreover, we have

||d(ιu)(φ0)(φ1)||K,mC||φ1||K,m;L,l=λ(||φ0||K,m;L,l,||φ1||K,m;L,l)

with λ(y0,y1)=Cy1. Higher differentials of ιu vanish and the moderateness test is satisfied with λ=0 for k2.

(ii): Fix x and let UUx(Ω) be arbitrary. For any K,LU and mN0 we have

||(σf)(φ0)||K,m=||f||K,m=λ(||φ0||K,0;L,0)

with λ(y0)=||f||K,m. Differentials of σf vanish, i.e., λ=0 for k1.

(iii): Fix x and let UUx(Ω) be arbitrary. For any K,LU and m,kN0 we have

(ιf-σf)(φ0)=f,φ0-δ,d(ιf-σf)(φ0)(φ1)=f,φ1,dk(ιf-σf)(φ0)(φ1,,φk)=0fork2.

Hence, with c=m, l=0 and B={f} the negligibility test is satisfied with λ(y0,z0)=z0 for k=0, λ(y0,y1,z0,z1)=z1 for k=1 and λ=0 for k2.

(iv): We show that every point xΩ has an open neighborhood V such that u|V=0, which implies u=0.

Given xΩ, let UUx(Ω) be as in the characterization of negligibility in Proposition 8. Choose an open neighborhood V of x such that K:=V¯U and r>0 such that L:=Br(K)¯U. With k=m=0, Proposition 8 gives c,lN0, λI0 and BC(U), where λ has the form

λ(y,z)=αN0n,βNλαβyαzβ.

Choose φD(Rn) with suppφB1(0), φ(x)dx=1 and xγφ(x)dx=0 for γN0n with 0<γq, where q is chosen such that β(q+1)>α(n+c+l) for all α,β with λαβ0 (e.g., take q=(n+c+l)degyλ, where degyλ is the degree of λ with respect to y). For ε>0 set φε(y)=ε-nφ(y/ε). Then for ε<r, φε(x)(y):=φε(y-x) defines an element φεC(K,DL(Ω)) because suppφε(.-x)=x+suppφεBε(x)Br(K)L for xBr-ε(K). Consequently, we have

||(ιu)(φε)||K,0λ(||φε||K,c;L,l,||φε-δ||K,c;B).

Because of the estimates

||φε||K,c;L,l=O(ε-(n+l+c))||φε-δ||K,c;B=O(εq+1),

which may be verified by a direct calculation, we have

||(ιu)(φε)||K,0α,βλα,β·O(ε-α(n+c+l))·O(εβ(q+1))0

by the choice of q, which means that (ιu)(φε)|V0 in C(V) and hence also in D(V). On the other hand, we have

u,φε|Vu|V

in D(V), as is easily verified. This completes the proof.

Theorem 13

For XC(Ω,Rn) we have

  • (i)

    D~X(M(Ω))M(Ω) and D^X(M(Ω))M(Ω),

  • (ii)

    D~X(N(Ω))N(Ω) and D^X(N(Ω))N(Ω).

Proof

The claims for D~X are clear because

||dk(D~XR)(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,m=||DX(dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ))||K,mC||dkR(φ)(ψ,,ψ)||K,m+1

for some constant C depending on X. As to D^X, we have to deal with terms of the form

dk+1R(φ)(DXSKφ,ψ,,ψ)anddkR(φ)(DXSKψ,ψ,,ψ)

for which we use the estimate

||DXSKφ||K,c;L,lC||φ||K,c,+1;L,l+1

for some constant C depending on X.

We now come to the quotient algebra.

Definition 14

We define the Colombeau algebra of generalized functions on Ω by G(Ω):=M(Ω)/N(Ω).

G(Ω) is a C(Ω)-module and an associative commutative algebra with unit σ(1). ι is a linear embedding of D(Ω) and σ an algebra embedding of C(Ω) into G(Ω) such that ιf=σf in G(Ω) for all smooth functions fC(Ω). Furthermore, the derivatives D^X and D~X are well-defined on G(Ω).

Finally, we establish sheaf properties of G. Note that for ΩΩ open, the restriction R|Ω(φ):=R(φ) is well-defined because for UΩ open we have C(U,D(Ω))C(U,D(Ω)).

Proposition 15

Let RB(Ω) and ΩΩ be open. If R is moderate then R|Ω is moderate; if R is negligible then R|Ω is negligible.

Proof

Suppose that RM(Ω). Fix xΩ, which gives UUx(Ω). Set U:=UΩUx(Ω) and let K,LU and m,kN0 be arbitrary. Then there are c,l,λ as in Definition 6. Let now φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)) be given. Choose ρD(U) such that ρ1 on a neighborhood of K. Then ρ·φiC(U,DL(U)) (i=0k) and

||dkR|Ω(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,m=||dkR|Ω(ρφ0)(ρφ1,,ρφk)||K,m=||dkR(ρφ0)(ρφ1,,ρφk)||K,mλ(||ρφ0||K,c;L,l,,||ρφk||K,c;L,l)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l).

Hence, the moderateness test is satisfied for R|Ω.

Now suppose that RN(Ω). For the negligibility test fix xΩ, which gives UUx(Ω). Set U:=UΩ and let K,LU and m,kN0 be arbitrary. Then c,l,B,λ as in Definition 7. Let now φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)) be given. Choose ρD(U) such that ρ1 on a neighborhood of K. Then ρ·φiC(U,DL(U)) (i=0k) and

||dkR|Ω(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,m=||dkR|Ω(ρφ0)(ρφ1,,ρφk)||K,m=||dkR(ρφ0)(ρφ1,,ρφk)||K,mλ(||ρφ0||K,c;L,l,,||ρφk||K,c;L,l,||ρφ0-δ||K,c;B,,||ρφk||K,c;B)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,,||φk||K,c;B)

which shows negligibility of R|Ω.

Proposition 16

G(-) is a sheaf of algebras on Ω.

Proof

Let XΩ be open and (Xi)i be a family of open subsets of Ω such that iXi=X.

We first remark that if RB(X) satisfies R|XiN(Xi) for all i then RN(X), as is evident from the definition of negligibility.

Suppose now that we are given RiM(Xi) such that Ri|XiXj-Rj|XiXjN(XiXj) for all ij with XiXj. Let (χi)i be a partition of unity subordinate to (Xi)i, i.e., a family of mappings χiC(X) such that 0χi1, (suppχi)i is locally finite, iχi(x)=1 for all xX and suppχiXi. Choose functions ρiC(Xi,D(Xi)) which are equal to 1 on an open neighborhood of the diagonal in Xi×Xi for each i. For VX open and φC(V,D(X)) we define RV(φ)C(V) by

RV(φ):=iχi|V·(Ri)VXi(ρi|VXi·φ|VXi). 3

For showing smoothness of RV consider a curve cC(R,C(V,D(X))). We have to show that tRV(c(t)) is an element of C(R,C(V)). By [11, 3.8, p. 28] it suffices to show that for each open subset WV which is relatively compact in V the curve tRV(c(t))|W=RW(c(t)|W) is smooth, but this holds because the sum in (3) then is finite. Hence, (RV)VB(Ω).

Fix xX for the moderateness test. There is a finite index set F and an open neighborhood WUx(X) such that Wsuppχi implies iF. We can also assume that xiFXi. Let Y be a neighborhood of x such that ρi1 on Y×Y for all iF. For each iF let UiUx(Xi) be obtained from moderateness of Ri as in Definition 6. Set U:=iFUiWYUx(X), and let K,LU as well as m,kN0 be arbitrary. For each iF there are ci,li,λi such that for any φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)) we have

||dkRi(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλi(||φ0||K,ci;L,li,,||φk||K,ci;L,li).

Now we have, for φC(U,DL(U)),

R(φ)|W=iFχi|W·(Ri)WXi(ρiφ|WXi)

and hence, for φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)),

dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)|W=iFχi|W·dk((Ri)WXi)(ρiφ0|WXi)(ρiφ1|WXi,,ρiφk|WXi).

We see that

||dkR(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,miFC(m)·||χi||K,m·λi(||φ0||K,ci;L,li,,||φk||K,ci;L,li)=λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φk||K,c;L,l)

with c=maxjFcj, l=maxjFlj, some constant C(m) coming from the Leibniz rule, and λPk given by

λ=iFC(m)||χi||K,m·λi.

This shows that R is moderate. Finally, we claim that R|Xj-RjN(Xj) for all j. For this we first note that

(R|Xj-Rj)(φ)=iχi|Xj·(Ri(ρiφ|XiXj)-Rj(φ))

for φC(Xj,D(Xj)). Again, for xXj there is a finite index set F and an open neighborhood WUx(X) such that Wsuppχi implies iF, and we can assume that xiFXi. Let Y be a neighborhood of x such that ρi1 on Y×Y for all iF and let UiUx(XiXj) be given by the negligibility test of Ri|XiXj-Rj|XiXj according to Definition 7. Set U:=iFUiWY. Fix any K,LU and m,kN0. For each iF there are ci,li,λi,Bi such that for φ0,,φkC(U,DL(U)) we have

||dk(Ri|XiXj-Rj|XiXj)(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,mλi(||φ0||K,ci;L,li,,||φ0-δ||K,ci;Bi,||φ1||K,ci;Bi,,||φk||K,ci;Bi).

As above, we then have

||dk(R|Xj-Rj)(φ0)(φ1,,φk)||K,miFC(m)·||χi||K,m·λi(||φ0||K,ci;L,li,,||φ0-δ||K,ci;Bi,||φ1||K,ci;Bi,)λ(||φ0||K,c;L,l,,||φ0-δ||K,c;B,||φ0||K,c;B,)

with c=maxiFci, l=maxiFli, B=iFBi, and λIk given by

λ=iFC(m)||χ||K,m·λi.

This completes the proof.

An elementary version

We will now give a variant of the construction of Sect. 3 similar in spirit to Colombeau’s elementary algebra [2]: if we only consider derivatives along the coordinate lines of Rn we can replace the smoothing kernels φC(U,DL(Ω)) by convolutions. This way, one can use a simpler basic space which does not involve calculus on infinite dimensional locally convex spaces anymore:

Definition 17

Let ΩRn be open. We set

U(Ω):={(φ,x)D(Rn)×Ω|suppφ+xΩ}

and define Bc(Ω) to be the set of all mappings R:U(Ω)C such that R(φ,·) is smooth for fixed φ.

Note that this is almost the basic space used originally by Colombeau (see [2, 1.2.1, p. 18] or [9, Definition 1.4.3, p. 59]) but with D(Rn) in place of the space of test functions whose integral equals one. We now introduce a notation for the convolution kernel determined by a test function.

Definition 18

For φD(Rn) we define Inline graphic by

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ80_HTML.gif

In fact, with this definition we have Inline graphic, where as usually we set φˇ(y):=φ(-y). Furthermore, for cN0 we write

||φ||c:=supxRn,αcαφ(x)(φD(Rn)).

The direct adaptation of Definition 6,7 then looks as follows:

Definition 19

Let RBc(Ω). Then R is called moderate if

(xΩ)(UUx(Ω))(K,LU:KL)(mN0)(cN0)(λP0)(φD(Rn):K+suppφL):||R(φ,.)||K,mλ(||φ||c).

The subset of all moderate elements of Bc(Ω) is denoted by Mc(Ω).

Similarly, R is called negligible if

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ81_HTML.gif

The subset of all negligible elements of Bc(Ω) is denoted by Nc(Ω).

It is convenient to work with the following simplification of these definitions.

Proposition 20

RBc(Ω) is moderate if and only if

(KΩ)(r>0:Br(K)¯Ω)(mN0)(cN0)(λP0)(φD(Rn):suppφBr(0)):||R(φ,.)||K,mλ(||φ||c).

Similarly, RBc(Ω) is negligible if and only if

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ82_HTML.gif

Proof

Suppose R is moderate and fix KΩ. We can cover K by finitely many open sets Ui obtained from Definition 19 and write K=iKi with KiUi. Choose r>0 such that Li:=Br(Ki)¯Ui for all i. Fixing m, by moderateness there exist ci and λi for each i. Set c=maxici and choose λ with λλi for all i. Now given φD(Rn) with suppφBr(0) we also have Ki+suppφLi and we can estimate

||R(φ,.)||K,msupi||R(φ,.)||Ki,msupiλi(||φ||ci)λ(||φ||c).

Conversely, suppose the condition holds and fix xΩ for the moderateness test. Choose a>0 such that Ba(x)¯Ω. By assumption there is r>0 with Br+a(x)¯Ω. Set U:=Br/2(x). Then, fix KLU and m for the moderateness test. There are c and λ by assumption. Now given φ with K+suppφL, we see that for ysuppφ and an arbitrary point zK we have yy+z-x+z-x<r, which means that suppφBr(0). But then ||R(φ,.)||K,mλ(||φ||c) as desired.

If R is negligible we proceed similarly until the choice of KiLiUi and m gives ci,λi and Bi. Choose χiD(Ui) with χi1 on a neighborhood of Li, and define B:=i{χif|fBi}, which is bounded in C(Ω). Then with c=maxici and λλi for all i we have

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ83_HTML.gif

The converse is seen as for moderateness by restricting the elements of BC(Ω) to U.

The embeddings now take the following form.

Definition 21

We define ιc:D(Ω)Bc(Ω) and σc:C(Ω)Bc(Ω) by

(ιcu)(φ,x):=u,φ(.-x)(uD(Ω))(σcf)(φ,x):=f(x)(fC(Ω)).

Partial derivatives on Bc(Ω) then can be defined via differentiation in the second variable:

Definition 22

Let RBc(Ω). We define derivatives Di:Bc(Ω)Bc(Ω) (i=1,,n) by

(DiR)(φ,x):=xi(xR(φ,x)).

Theorem 23

We have Di(Mc(Ω))Mc(Ω) and Di(Nc(Ω))Nc(Ω).

Proof

This is evident from the definitions.

Proposition 24

We have Diι=ιi and Diσ=σi.

Proof

Di(ιu)(φ,x)=xiu(y),φ(y-x)=u(y),-(iφ)(y-x)=iu(y),φ(y-x)=ι(iu)(φ,x). The second claim is clear.

Proposition 25

Nc(Ω)Mc(Ω).

Proof

The result follows from

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ84_HTML.gif

for suitable λ1 and c1, which is seen as in the proof of Proposition 10.

Similarly to Proposition 11 we have:

Proposition 26

Mc(Ω) is a subalgebra of Bc(Ω) and Nc(Ω) is an ideal in Mc(Ω).

Theorem 27

Let uD(Ω) and fC(Ω). Then

  • (i)

    ιcu is moderate,

  • (ii)

    σcf is moderate,

  • (iii)

    ιcf-σcf is negligible, and

  • (iv)

    if ιcu is negligible then u=0.

The proof is almost identical to that of Theorem 12 and hence omitted.

Definition 28

We define the elementary Colombeau algebra of generalized functions on Ω by Gc(Ω):=Mc(Ω)/Nc(Ω).

As before, one may show that Gc is a sheaf.

Canonical mappings

In this section we show that the algebra G constructed above is near to being universal in the sense that there exist canonical mappings from it into most of the classical Colombeau algebras which are compatible with the embeddings.

We begin by constructing a mapping G(Ω)Gc(Ω).

Definition 29

Given RB(Ω) we define R~Bc(Ω) by

R~(φ,x):=R(φ)(x)((φ,x)U(Ω))

where φC(Ω,D(Ω)) is chosen such that Inline graphic in a neighborhood of x.

This definition is meaningful: given (φ,x) in U(Ω) we have suppφ(.-x)Ω for x in a neighborhood V of x. Choosing ρD(Ω) with suppρV and ρ1 in a neighborhood of x, we can take Inline graphic. Obviously, R~(φ,x) does not depend on the choice of φ(x) and R~(φ,.) is smooth, so indeed we have R~Bc(Ω).

Proposition 30

Let RB(Ω). Then the following holds:

  • (i)

    ιu~=ιcu for uD(Ω).

  • (ii)

    σf~=σcf for fC(Ω).

  • (iii)

    R~Mc(Ω) for RM(Ω).

  • (iv)

    R~Nc(Ω) for RN(Ω).

Proof

(i): For uD(Ω) we have

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ85_HTML.gif

(ii) is clear.

(iii): Suppose that RM(Ω). Fixing xΩ, we obtain U as in Proposition 8. Let KLU and m be given, set k=0, and choose L such that LLU. Then Proposition 8 gives c,l,λ such that for φC(K,DL(U)),

||R(φ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l).

Now for φD(Rn) with K+suppφL we have Inline graphic, which gives

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ86_HTML.gif

which proves that R~Mc(Ω).

(iv): Similarly, if RN(Ω) then for xΩ we have U as in Proposition 8. For KLU, m given, k=0, and L such that LLU, we obtain c,l,λ,B as in Proposition 8 such that

||R(φ)||K,mλ(||φ||K,c;L,l,||φ-δ||K,c;B)

and hence

graphic file with name 11868_2017_230_Equ87_HTML.gif

which gives negligibility of R~.

The special algebra

We define the special Colombeau algebra Gs with the embedding as in [4]: fix a mollifier ρS(Rn) with

ρ(x)dx=1,xαρ(x)dx=0αN0n\{0}.

Choosing χD(Rn) with 0χ1, χ1 on B1(0) and suppχB2(0) we set

ρε(y):=ε-nρ(y/ε),θε(y):=ρε(y)χ(ylnε)(ε>0).

Moreover, with

Kε={xΩ|d(x,Rn\Ω)ε}B1/ε(0)Ω(ε>0)

we choose functions κεD(Ω) such that 0κε1 and κε1 on Kε. Then the special algebra Gs(Ω) is given by

Es(Ω):=C(Ω)IwithI:=(0,1],EMs(Ω):={(uε)εEs(Ω)|KΩmN0NN:||uε||K,m=O(ε-N)},Ns(Ω):={(uε)εEs(Ω)|KΩmN0NN:||uε||K,m=O(εN)},Gs(Ω):=EMs(Ω)/Ns(Ω),(ιsu)ε:=u,ψε(uD(Ω)),(σsf)ε:=f(fC(Ω)),ψε(x)(y):=θε(x-y)κε(y).

Definition 31

For RB(Ω) we define Rs=(Rεs)εEs(Ω) by

Rεs(x):=R(ψε)(x).

Proposition 32

  • (i)

    (ιu)s=ιsu for uD(Ω).

  • (ii)

    (σf)s=σsf for fC(Ω).

  • (iii)

    RsEMs(Ω) for RM(Ω).

  • (iv)

    RsNs(Ω) for RN(Ω).

Proof

(i) and (ii) are clear.

For (iii) it suffices to show the needed estimate locally. Fix xΩ, which gives UUx(Ω) as in Proposition 8. Choose any KL such that xKLU, fix m, and set k=0. Then there are c,l,λ as in Proposition 8. Because suppψε(x)B2lnε-1(x) we have ψεC(K,DL(U)) for ε small enough, which gives

||Rεs||K,mλ(||ψε||K,c;L,l).

Consequently, (Rεs)εEMs(Ω) follows from

||ψε||K,c;L,l=supx,α,y,βxαyβ(ρε(x-y)χ((x-y)lnε)κε(y))=O(ε-n-c-l).

For negligibility we proceed similarly; the claim then follows by using that for a bounded subset BC(U) we have ||ψε-δ||K,c;B=O(εN) for all NN, which is seen as in [4, Prop. 12, p. 38] and actually merely a restatement of the fact that ιsf-σsf=O(εN) for all N uniformly for fB.

The diffeomorphism invariant algebra

There are several variants of the diffeomorphism invariant algebra Gd; we will employ the following formulation [10, 13, 14]:

Ed(Ω):=C(D(Ω),C(Ω))EMd(Ω):={RC(D(Ω))|KΩk,mN0(φε)εS(Ω)(ψ1,ε)ε,,(ψk,ε)εS0(Ω)NN:||dkR(φε)(ψ1,ε,,ψk,ε)||K,m=O(ε-N)},Nd(Ω):={RC(D(Ω))|KΩk,mN0(φε)εS(Ω)(ψ1,ε)ε,,(ψk,ε)εS0(Ω)NN:||dkR(φε)(ψ1,ε,,ψk,ε)||K,m=O(εN)},Gd(Ω):=EMd(Ω)/Nd(Ω),(ιdu)(φ)(x):=u,φ,(σdf)(φ)(x):=f(x).

The spaces S(Ω) and S0(Ω) employed in this definition are given as follows:

Definition 33

Let a net of smoothing kernels (φε)εC(Ω,D(Ω))I be given and denote the corresponding net of smoothing operators by (Φε)εL(D(Ω),C(Ω))I. Then (φε)ε is called a test object on Ω if

  • (i)

    Φεid in L(D(Ω),D(Ω)),

  • (ii)

    pcsn(L(D(Ω),C(Ω)))NN: p(Φε)=O(ε-N),

  • (iii)

    pcsn(L(C(Ω),C(Ω)))mN: p(Φε|C(Ω)-id)=O(εm),

  • (iv)

    xΩVUx(Ω)r>0ε0>0yVε<ε0: suppφε(y)Br(y).

We denote the set of test objects on Ω by S(Ω). Similarly, (φε)ε is called a 0-test object if it satisfies these conditions with (i) and (iii) replaced by the following conditions:

  • (i’)

    Φε0 in L(D(Ω),D(Ω)),

  • (iii’)

    pcsn(L(C(Ω),C(Ω)))mN: p(Φε|C(Ω))=O(εm).

The set of all 0-test objects on Ω is denoted by S0(Ω).

Definition 34

For RB(Ω) we define RdEd(Ω) by

Rd(φ)(x):=R([xφ])(x).

Proposition 35

  • (i)

    (ιu)d=ιdu for uD(Ω).

  • (ii)

    (σf)d=σdu for fC(Ω).

  • (iii)

    RdEMd(Ω) for RM(Ω).

  • (iv)

    RdNd(Ω) for RN(Ω).

Proof

(i) and (ii) are clear from the definition. (iii) and (iv) follow directly from the estimates

||φε||K,c;L,l=O(ε-N)for someN,||φε-δ||K,c;B=O(εN)for allN,

which hold by definition of the spaces S(Ω) and S0(Ω).

The elementary algebra

For Colombeau’s elementary algebra we employ the formulation of [9, Section 1.4], Sect. 1.4. For kN0 we let Ak(Rn) be the set of all φD(Rn) with integral one such that, if k1, all moments of φ order up to k vanish.

Ue(Ω):={(φ,x)A0(Rn)×Ω|x+suppφΩ}Ee(Ω):={R:Ue(Ω)C|φA0(Rn):R(φ,.)is smooth}EMe(Ω):={REe(Ω)|KΩmN0NNφAN(Rn):||R(Sεφ,.)||K,m=O(ε-N)}Ne(Ω):={REe(Ω)|KΩmN0NNqNφAq(Rn):||R(Sεφ,.)||K,m=O(εN)}Ge(Ω):=EMe(Ω)/Ne(Ω)(ιeu)(φ,x):=u,φ(.-x)(σef)(φ,x):=f(x)

Definition 36

For RBc(Ω) we define ReEe(Ω) by Re(φ,x):=R(φ,x).

Proposition 37

  • (i)

    (ιcu)e=ιeu for uD(Ω).

  • (ii)

    (σcf)e=σeu for fC(Ω).

  • (iii)

    ReEMe(Ω) for RMc(Ω).

  • (iv)

    ReNe(Ω) for RNc(Ω).

Proof

Again, (i) and (ii) are clear from the definition. For (iii), fix KΩ and mN0. From Proposition 20 we obtain r, c and λ such that for suppφBr(0), ||R(φ,.)||K,mλ(||φ||c). For φA0(Rn) and ε small enough, suppSεφBr(0), so we only have to take into account that ||Sεφ||c=O(ε-N) for some NN. Similarly, (iv) is obtained from the fact that given any N, for q large enough we have ||(Sεφ)-δ||K,c;B=O(εN) for all φAq(Rn).

Acknowledgements

Open access funding provided by Austrian Science Fund (FWF). This research was supported by project P26859-N25 of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The author expresses his thanks to D. Scarpalézos for a remark inciting the present study.

Footnotes

Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Todor Gramchev.

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