A characterization of graphs which can be approximated in area by smooth graphs

For vector valued maps, convergence in W ^1,1 and of all minors of the Jacobian matrix in L ¹ is equivalent to convergence weakly in the sense of currents and in area for graphs. We show that maps defined on domains of dimension n≥ 3 can be approximated strongly in this sense by smooth maps if and only if the same property holds for the restriction to a.e. 2-dimensional plane intersecting the domain. Received April 29, 1999 / final version received July 21, 2000?Published online September 25, 2000