ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Mollifier

A mollifier is like a magic machine that helps smooth out things that are too rough or too sharp. Imagine if you have a really bumpy and uneven road, and your car keeps shaking and bouncing as you drive. That's not very nice or safe! But if you use a mollifier on that road, it will make the bumps and holes smaller and smoother, so your car can drive more easily and comfortably.

In math, we use mollifiers to make functions smoother too. Sometimes, we have a function that has a lot of jumps or spikes in it, like a mountain range. That can make it hard to work with or understand. But if we apply a mollifier to that function, it will make those spikes and jumps smaller and smoother, like rolling hills. That makes the function easier to analyze and work with.

So just like how a magic machine can make a bumpy road smoother for cars, a mollifier can make a bumpy function smoother for mathematicians. Cool, huh?