Let $n\in\mathbb{N}$, let $U\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ be \reftext{def:open-subset-euclidean-space-2026a}{open}, let $f:U\to\mathbb{R}$, and let

be a multi-index of length $n$. We define recursively what it means for the partial derivative of $f$ of order $\alpha$ to exist on $U$, and when it does exist we denote it by

1. If $\alpha=0$, then the derivative of order $\alpha$ exists on $U$ and is defined by

2. Suppose $\alpha\ne 0$. We say that the derivative of order $\alpha$ exists on $U$ if there exists an index $i\in\{1,\dots,n\}$ such that $e_i\le \alpha$, the derivative

exists on $U$, and the ordinary partial derivative

exists at every point of $U$ in the sense of \ref{def:partial-derivative-coordinate-map-2026a}. In that case we define

For a map $F=(F_1,\dots,F_m):U\to\mathbb{R}^m$, we say that the derivative of order $\alpha$ exists on $U$ if each component derivative $\partial^\alpha F_j$ exists on $U$, and then we define