Tempered distributions and Schwartz functions on definable manifolds

Abstract

We define the spaces of Schwartz functions, tempered functions and tempered distributions on manifolds definable in polynomially bounded o-minimal structures. We show that all the classical properties that these spaces have in the Nash category, as first studied in Fokko du Cloux's work, also hold in this generalized setting. We also show that on manifolds definable in o-minimal structures that are not polynomially bounded, such a theory can not be constructed. We present some possible applications, mainly in representation theory.