Extension of convex functions from a hyperplane to a half-space

Abstract: It is shown that a possibly infinite-valued proper lower semicontinuous convex function on ${\mathbb R}^n$ has an extension to a convex function on the half-space ${\mathbb R}^n\times[0,\infty)$ which is finite and smooth on the open half-space ${\mathbb R}^n\times(0,\infty)$. The result is applied to nonlinear elasticity, where it clarifies how the condition of polyconvexity of the free-energy density $\psi(Dy)$ is best expressed when $\psi(A)\to\infty$ as $\det A\to 0+$.