LAUSR

We consider the restriction of a differential operator (DO) [Formula: see text] acting on the sections [Formula: see text] of a vector bundle [Formula: see text] with base [Formula: see text], in the language of jet bundles. When the base of [Formula: see text] is restricted to a submanifold [Formula: see text], all information about derivatives in directions that are not tangent to [Formula: see text] is lost. To restrict [Formula: see text] to a DO [Formula: see text] acting on sections [Formula: see text] of the restricted bundle [Formula: see text] (with [Formula: see text] the natural embedding), one must choose an auxiliary DO [Formula: see text] and express the derivatives non-tangent to [Formula: see text] from the kernel of [Formula: see text]. This is equivalent to choosing a splitting of certain short exact sequence of jet bundles. A property of [Formula: see text] called formal integrability is crucial for restriction’s self-consistency. We give an explicit example illustrating what can go wrong if [Formula: see text] is not formally integrable. As an important application of this methodology, we consider the dimensional reduction of DOs invariant with respect to the action of a connected Lie group [Formula: see text]. The splitting relation comes from the Lie derivative of the action, which is formally integrable. The reduction of the action of another group is also considered.