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Not all smooth functions are analytic, as it is well known, so they in general cannot be represented as a power series.

If we restrict our attention to analytic functions, then a specification of the values of all derivatives of a function at a point will give us the function.

My question is essentially about how much information is contained in knowing all derivatives of a smooth but not necessarily analytic function at a point.

In particular, let $(E, \pi, M) $ be a fibred manifold and let $\Gamma_x(E) $ denote the space of germs of smooth sections at $x\in M$. A germ contains information about the section in an arbitrarily small open neighborhood of $x$. However, practically thinking, the only definite values I can associate to a germ is the value of a representative section at $x$, and the values of its derivatives at the same point to arbitrary orders.

On the other hand, points of the infinite jet space $J_x^\infty(E) $ literally consist of values of a section and derivatives up to all orders at $x$. Nonetheless I feel that the germ space might contain more "nonlocal" information than the infinite jet space.

So the question is, how are $J_x^\infty(E) $ and $\Gamma_x(E) $ related?

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    The famous $e^{-1/x^2}$ example has all derivatives $=0$ at $x=0$, but its germ at $0$ is not the zero germ because the function differs from the zero function on every neighbourhood of $0$. – Hagen von Eitzen Aug 23 '19 at 19:59
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    Given any sequence $(c_a)$ you can construct a smooth function having $D^af(p) = c_a$, then $D^a g(p) =c_a$ iff all the derivatives of $f-g$ vanish at $p$ iff $\forall k, f-g = o(|x-p|^k)$, thus the Taylor series is nothing more than an asymptotic expansion. And as Hagen said the germ is much more than the Taylor series, it is the knowledge of the function in some arbitrary small neighborhood – reuns Aug 23 '19 at 20:08
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    “Is a germ equivalent to an infinite jet?” I love the places mathematical lingo takes you sometimes … – k.stm Aug 23 '19 at 20:17
  • Further, following up other comments, it may be slightly counter-intuitive that even if the Taylor-Maclaurin series converges (as with $e^{-x^2}$ in an extreme way), the associated function need not be represented by that convergent power series. The error terms must go to zero, and the error terms somehow contain more info than just the derivatives at the base point. – paul garrett Aug 23 '19 at 20:59

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Most of the relevant behavior already occurs in the simple case where $M = \Bbb R$ and $E \to \Bbb R$ is the trivial bundle, so $\Gamma^\infty_x(E)$ is just the space ${\mathcal C}^\infty_x$ of germs of smooth functions $\Bbb R \to \Bbb R$ at $x$, and $J^\infty_x(E)$ is just the usual jet space $J^\infty_x(\Bbb R, \Bbb R)$.

For any representative $f$ of a germ $[f]$ at $x_0$ we can compute all of the derivatives $f^{(k)}(x)$ of $f$ at $x$, that is, the $\infty$-jet $j^{\infty}_x(f) \in J^{\infty}_x$ of $f$ at $x$, and since the definition of a derivative is local this jet is independent of the choice of representative $f$. So, we have a well-defined map $$\Pi : \Gamma_x(E) \to J^{\infty}_x(E) .$$ It follows from the definitions of germs and jets that this map is surjective. Moreover, Borel's Lemma tells us that every formal power series at $x$ is the Taylor series of some smooth function at $x$, so we can identify, I think, $J^\infty_x(E)$ with the space $\Bbb R[[x]]$ of formal power series.

On the other hand, as Hagen von Eitzen recalled in the comments, there are nonzero smooth functions with zero $\infty$-jet, like the classic example $x \mapsto \exp\left(-x^{-2}\right)$ (with the singularity removed), so $\Pi$ is not injective. Thus, a germ at a point does contain strictly more information than the corresponding $\infty$-jet at that point, but to be sure this information is local, since the definition of a germ is.

Conversely, the power series of a real-analytic function $f$ at some point converges to that function in some neighborhood of that point, so we can recover the germ $[f]$ from its $\infty$-jet. So, if we denote by $\mathcal{C}^\omega_x$ the set of germs of real-analytic functions at $x$, the restriction $$\Pi\vert_{\mathcal{C}^\omega_x} : \mathcal{C}^\omega_x \to J^\infty_x(E)$$ of $\Pi$ to that set is injective, and we can thus identify $\mathcal{C}^\omega_x$ with a (proper) subspace of $J^\infty_x(E)$. On the other hand, since there are formal power series that do not converge on any open set (apply the Ratio Test to the series $\sum_{n = 0}^\infty n! x^n$) this restriction is not surjective.

To talk about real-analyticity for general fiber bundles $E \to M$, $E$ and $M$ must come equipped with (compatible) real-analytic atlases. Since our considerations are local, we may as well work in an (analytic) fiber chart, reducing the problem to understanding the behavior of jets of functions $\Bbb R^m \to \Bbb R^n$, so not much changes from the above toy case. (I haven't thought about jets of fibered manifolds, but I don't see immediately that anything that goes wrong in that case.)

Remark It's natural to ask how we can describe the information contained in a germ but not its corresponding jet. Again in the toy case, the map $\Pi$ fits into a short exact sequence, $$0 \to \ker \Pi \to \mathcal{C}^\infty_x \stackrel{\Pi}{\to} J^\infty_x \to 0 .$$ By definition, $\ker \Pi$ is just the space of germs whose corresponding jet is the zero jet. A choice of complement $N$ of $\ker \Pi$ in $C^\infty_x$ (that is, a choice of splitting of the s.e.s.) induces a decomposition $\mathcal{C}^\infty_x = \ker \Pi \oplus N \cong \ker \Pi \oplus J^\infty_x$, and then the information contained in a germ $[f]$ but not the corresponding jet $j^\infty_x f$ is encoded (in a way that depends on the choice of $N$) as the projection of $[f]$ to $\ker \Pi$. I don't think, however, that there is a natural choice of complement.

On the other hand, there is a natural subspace of $\mathcal{C}^\infty_x$ in which there is a natural complement of the kernel of the restriction of $\Pi$. Define $$\mathcal D_x := (\Pi\vert_{\mathcal{C}^\infty_x})^{-1} (\Pi(\mathcal{C}^\omega_x)) .$$ Unwinding definitions, we see that $\mathcal D_x$ is precisely the space of germs whose power series at $x$ converges on some open subset containing $x$. This gives rise to a longer exact sequence, $$0 \to \ker \Pi\vert_{\mathcal D_x} \to \mathcal D_x \stackrel{\Pi_{\mathcal D_x}}{\to} J^\infty_x \to J^\infty_x / \mathcal D_x \to 0 .$$ Then, $C^\omega_x$ is natural complement to $\ker \Pi\vert_{\mathcal D_x}$: The splitting map $\mathcal D_x \to \ker \Pi\vert_{\mathcal D_x}$---which again per the above we interpret as the map sending a germ to the information contained therein but not in the corresponding jet---is just $$[f] \mapsto [f] - (\Pi\vert_{\mathcal{C}^\omega_x})^{-1} (\Pi([f])) .$$ Informally, this map subtracts from a germ the germ of the function to which the power series of the germ converges, leaving a germ with zero power series.

Travis Willse
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