All functions are locally $s$-harmonic up to a small error

Abstract

We show that we can approximate every function $f\in C^k(\overline{B_1})$ with a $s$-harmonic function in $B_1$ that vanishes outside a compact set. That is, $s$-harmonic functions are dense in $C_{\mathrm{loc}}^k$. This result is clearly in contrast with the rigidity of harmonic functions in the classical case and can be viewed as a purely nonlocal feature.

To appear in J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS)