Extension operators for smooth functions on compact subsets of the reals

Abstract

We introduce sufficient as well as necessary conditions for a compact set $K$ such that there is a continuous linear extension operator from the space of restrictions $C^\infty(K)=\lbrace F|_K: F\in C^\infty(\mathbb R)\rbrace$ to $C^\infty(\mathbb R)$. This allows us to deal with examples of the form $K=\lbrace a_n:n\in\mathbb N\rbrace \cup \lbrace 0\rbrace$ for $a_n\to 0$ previously considered by Fefferman and Ricci as well as Vogt.