In mathematics, a partition of unity of a topological space X is a set R of continuous functions from X to the unit interval such that for every point, x ∈ X {displaystyle xin X} , Φ ( x ) = { exp ( 1 x 2 − 1 ) x ∈ ( − 1 , 1 ) 0 otherwise {displaystyle Phi (x)={egin{cases}exp left({frac {1}{x^{2}-1}} ight)&xin (-1,1)\0&{ ext{otherwise}}end{cases}}} In mathematics, a partition of unity of a topological space X is a set R of continuous functions from X to the unit interval such that for every point, x ∈ X {displaystyle xin X} , Partitions of unity are useful because they often allow one to extend local constructions to the whole space. They are also important in the interpolation of data, in signal processing, and the theory of spline functions.