Topology and approximation of weak G-bundles in the supercritical dimensions

Abstract

For analyzing stationary Yang-Mills connections in higher dimensions, one has to work with Morrey-Sobolev bundles and connections. The transition maps for a Morrey-Sobolev principal G-bundles are not continuous and thus the usual notion of topology does not make sense. In this work, we develop the notion of a topological isomorphism class for a bundle-connection pair $(P,A)$ and use these notions to derive several approximability results for bundles and connections in the Morrey-Sobolev setting. Our proofs follow a connection-oriented approach and also highlight the fact that in the low regularity regime, the regularity of the bundle and connection are intertwined. Our results parallel the theory of the topological degree and approximation results for manifold-valued VMO maps.