Some variations on the notion of connection

Distributions on manifolds are studied in terms of jets of submanifolds and are interpreted as «pre-connections» or «almost-fibrings»; the associated differential calculus is developed in detail. A comparison with connections on fibred manifolds is analysed. Moreover, «higher order pre-connections», defined as pre-connections dependent on jets of arbitrary order, are introduced and studied. It is shown that infinite jets play an essential role in the associated differential calculus.This work has been performed the visits of Prof. A. M.Vinogradov at the Department of Applied Mathematics, supported by Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica Matematica of CNR (1989, 1990).This work has been partially supported by funds (40% and 60%) of MURST.