Reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces on manifolds: Sobolev and Diffusion spaces

Abstract: We study reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) on a Riemannian manifold. In particular, we discuss under which condition Sobolev spaces are RKHS and characterize their reproducing kernels. Further, we introduce and discuss a class of smoother RKHS that we call diffusion spaces. We illustrate the general results with a number of detailed examples.