Convergence properties of sequences of functions with application to restricted derivative approximation

Convergence properties of sequences of continuous functions, with kth order divided differences bounded from above or below, are studied. It is found that for such sequences, convergence in a “monotone norm” (e.g., L_p) on [a, b] to a continuous function implies uniform convergence of the sequence and its derivatives up to order k − 1 (whenever they exist), in any closed subinterval of [a, b]. Uniform convergence in the closed interval [a, b] follows from the boundedness from below and above of the kth order divided differences. These results are applied to the estimation of the degree of approximation in Monotone and Restricted Derivative approximation, via bounds for the same problems with only one restricted derivative.     

On Positive and Copositive Polynomial and Spline Approximation inLp[−1, 1], 0<p<∞

For a functionfL_p[−1, 1], 0<p<∞, with finitely many sign changes, we construct a sequence of polynomialsP_nΠ_nwhich are copositive withfand such that f−P_npCω(f, (n+1)⁻¹)_p, whereω(f, t)_pdenotes the Ditzian–Totik modulus of continuity inL_pmetric. It was shown by S. P. Zhou that this estimate is exact in the sense that if f has at least one sign change, thenωcannot be replaced byω²if 1<p<∞. In fact, we show that even for positive approximation and all 0<p<∞ the same conclusion is true. Also, some results for (co)positive spline approximation, exact in the same sense, are obtained.     

Three-monotone spline approximation

For r≥3, n∈N and each 3-monotone continuous function f on [a,b] (i.e., f is such that its third divided differences [x₀,x₁,x₂,x₃]f are nonnegative for all choices of distinct points x₀,…,x₃ in [a,b]), we construct a spline s of degree r and of minimal defect (i.e., s∈C^r−1[a,b]) with n−1 equidistant knots in (a,b), which is also 3-monotone and satisfies ‖f−s‖_L∞[a,b]≤cω₄(f,n⁻¹,[a,b])_∞, where ω₄(f,t,[a,b])_∞ is the (usual) fourth modulus of smoothness of f in the uniform norm. This answers in the affirmative the question raised in [8, Remark 3], which was the only remaining unproved Jackson-type estimate for uniform 3-monotone approximation by piecewise polynomial functions (ppfs) with uniformly spaced fixed knots.Moreover, we also prove a similar estimate in terms of the Ditzian–Totik fourth modulus of smoothness for splines with Chebyshev knots, and show that these estimates are no longer valid in the case of 3-monotone spline approximation in the L_p norm with p<∞. At the same time, positive results in the L_p case with p<∞ are still valid if one allows the knots of the approximating ppf to depend on f while still being controlled.These results confirm that 3-monotone approximation is the transition case between monotone and convex approximation (where most of the results are “positive”) and k-monotone approximation with k≥4 (where just about everything is “negative”).     

The structure of the algebraic eigenspace to the spectral radius of eventually compact, nonnegative integral operators

Let K be an eventually compact linear integral operator on L^p(Ω, μ), 1 p < ∞, with nonnegative kernel k(x, y), where the underlying measure μ is totally σ-finite on the domain set Ω when P = 1. This work extends the previous analysis of the author who characterized the distinguished eigenvalues of K and K^*, and the support sets for the eigenfunctions and generalized eigenfunctions belonging to the spectral radius of K or K^*. The characterizations of the support sets for the algebraic eigenspaces of K or K^* are phrased in terms of significant k-components which are maximal irreducible subsets of Ω and which yield a positive spectral radius for the integral operator defined by the restriction of k(x, y) to the Cartesian product of such sets. In this paper, we show that a basis for the functions, constituting the algebraic eigenspaces of K and K^* belonging to the spectral radius of K, can be chosen to consist of elements which are positive on their sets of support, except possibly on sets of measure less than some arbitrarily specified positive number. In addition, we present necessary and sufficient conditions, in terms of the significant k-components, for both K and K^* to possess a positive eigenfunction (a.e. μ) corresponding to the spectral radius, as well as necessary and sufficient conditions for the sequence γⁿKⁿg _p to converge whenever g 0, where − _p denotes the norm in L^p(Ω, μ), and γ₁ the smallest (in modulus) characteristic value of K. This analysis is made possible by introducing the concepts of chains, lengths of chains, height, and depth of a significant k-component as was done by U. Rothblum [Lin. Alg. Appl. 12 (1975), 281–292] for the matrix setting.     

Geometrical Aspects of Discrimination by Multilayer Perceptrons

We investigate some geometrical aspects of the discriminant functions of the kindf_p(x)=∑^p_k=1 c_kτ(a′_kx) for suitable constantsa_k, c_kwhereτis a sigmoidal transformation. This function is realized by a multilayer perceptron with one hidden layer. These results are applied in the analysis of the discriminating power off_p. In particular, we prove that the class of finite populationsΩ₁andΩ₂that can be distinguished byf_pis monotonically increasing inpand we give a minimal sufficientpleading to a complete separation betweenΩ₁andΩ₂.     

Besov spaces andK-functionals inL p, 0<p<1*

We investigate Besov spaces and their connection with trigonometric polynomial approximation inL _p[−π,π], algebraic polynomial approximation inL _p[−1,1], algebraic polynomial approximation inL _p(S), and entire function of exponential type approximation inL _p(R), and characterizeK-functionals for certain pairs of function spaces including (L _p[−π,π],B _s ^a(L _p[−π,π])), (L _p(R),_s ^a(L_p(R))), , and , where 0<s≤∞, 0<p<1,S is a simple polytope and 0<α<r. This project is supported by the National Science Foundation of China.     

On the Expected Number of Shadow Vertices of the Convex Hull of Random Points

Leta₁, . . . ,a_mbe independent random points in ⁿthat are independent and identically distributed spherically symmetrical in ⁿ. Moreover, letXbe the random polytope generated as the convex hull ofa₁, . . . ,a_mand letL_kbe an arbitraryk-dimensional subspace of ⁿwith 2 ≤k≤n− 1. LetX_kbe the orthogonal projection image ofXinL_k. We call those vertices ofXwhose projection images inL_kare vertices ofX_kshadow vertices ofXwith respect to the subspaceL_k. We derive a distribution independent sharp upper bound for the expected number of shadow vertices ofXinL_k.     

Complexity of Weighted Approximation over

We study approximation of univariate functions defined over the reals. We assume that the rth derivative of a function is bounded in a weighted L_p norm with a weight ψ. Approximation algorithms use the values of a function and its derivatives up to order r−1. The worst case error of an algorithm is defined in a weighted L_q norm with a weight ρ. We study the worst case (information) complexity of the weighted approximation problem, which is equal to the minimal number of function and derivative evaluations needed to obtain error . We provide necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of the weights ψ and ρ, as well as the parameters r, p, and q for the weighted approximation problem to have finite complexity. We also provide conditions which guarantee that the complexity of weighted approximation is of the same order as the complexity of the classical approximation problem over a finite interval. Such necessary and sufficient conditions are also provided for a weighted integration problem since its complexity is equivalent to the complexity of the weighted approximation problem for q=1.     

An identity for the Wishart distribution with applications

Let S_p×p have a Wishart distribution with unknown matrix Σ and k degrees of freedom. For a matrix T(S) and a scalar h(S), an identity is obtained for E_∑tr[h(S)T∑⁻¹]. Two applications are given. The first provides product moments and related formulae for the Wishart distribution. Higher moments involving S can be generated recursively. The second application concerns good estimators of ∑ and ∑⁻¹. In particular, identities for several risk functions are obtained, and estimators of ∑ (∑⁻¹) are described which dominate aS(bS⁻¹), a ≤ 1/k (b ≤ k − p − 1). [3] Ann. Statist. 7 No. 5; (1980) Ann. Statist. 8 used special cases of the identity to find unbiased risk estimators. These are unobtainable in closed form for certain natural loss functions. In this paper, we treat these case as well. The dominance results provide a unified theory for the estimation of ∑ and ∑⁻¹.     

On equivalence of moduli of smoothness of polynomials in ,

It is well known that for functions , 1p∞. For general functions fL_p, it does not hold for 0<p<1, and its inverse is not true for any p in general. It has been shown in the literature, however, that for certain classes of functions the inverse is true, and the terms in the inequalities are all equivalent. Recently, Zhou and Zhou proved the equivalence for polynomials with p=∞. Using a technique by Ditzian, Hristov and Ivanov, we give a simpler proof to their result and extend it to the L_p space for 0<p∞. We then show its analogues for the Ditzian–Totik modulus of smoothness and the weighted Ditzian–Totik modulus of smoothness for polynomials with .     

Centres of Convex Sets inLMetrics

It is shown that for each convex bodyARⁿthere exists a naturally defined family _AC(Sⁿ⁻¹) such that for everyg _A, and every convex functionf: R→Rthe mappingy∫_Sⁿ⁻¹ f(g(x)−y, x) dσ(x) has a minimizer which belongs toA. As an application, approximation of convex bodies by balls with respect toL^pmetrics is discussed.     

Density of Gabor Frames

A Gabor system is a set of time-frequency shifts S(g, Λ) ={e^{2 π ibx}g(x − a)}_{(a, b) Λ} of a function g L²(R^d). We prove that if a finite union of Gabor systems _{k = 1}^rS(g_k, Λ_k) forms a frame for L²(R^d) then the lower and upper Beurling densities of Λ = _{k = 1}^r Λ_k satisfy D⁻(Λ) ≥ 1 and D ⁺ (Λ) < ∞. This extends recent work of Ramanathan and Steger. Additionally, we prove the conjecture that no collection _{k = 1}^r{g_k(x − a)}_{a Γk} of pure translates can form a frame for L²(R^d).     

Best Approximation with Linear Constraints: A Model Example

We consider best approximation in L_p( ), 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, by means of entire functions y of exponential type subject to additional constraints Γ_j(y) = 0, j = 1, ..., K. Here Γ_j are (unbounded) linear functionals of the form Γ_j(y) = Dⁿy(s_j) − ∑ a_kD^ky(s_j) where s_j are fixed points.     

Representations for the first associated q-classical orthogonal polynomials

Let {p_k(x; q)} be any system of the q-classical orthogonal polynomials, and let be the corresponding weight function, satisfying the q-difference equation D_q(σ)=τ, where σ and τ are polynomials of degree at most 2 and exactly 1, respectively. Further, let {p_k⁽¹⁾(x;q)} be associated polynomials of the polynomials {p_k(x; q)}. Explicit forms of the coefficients b_n,k and c_n,k in the expansions

are given in terms of basic hypergeometric functions. Here _k(x) equals x^k if σ⁺(0)=0, or (x;q)_k if σ⁺(1)=0, where σ⁺(x)σ(x)+(q−1)xτ(x). The most important representatives of those two classes are the families of little q-Jacobi and big q-Jacobi polynomials, respectively.Writing the second-order nonhomogeneous q-difference equation satisfied by p_n−1⁽¹⁾(x;q) in a special form, recurrence relations (in k) for b_n,k and c_n,k are obtained in terms of σ and τ.     

The Fine Structure of the n-Widths of H-Spaces in Lq(−1, 1)

The n-widths of the unit ball A_p of the Hardy space H^p in L_q( −1, 1) are determined asymptotically. It is shown that for 1 ≤ q < p ≤∞ there exist constants k₁ and k₂ such that [formula]≤ d_n(A_p, L_q(−1, 1)),dⁿ(A_p, L_q(−1, 1)), δ_n(A_p, L_q(−1, 1))[formula]where d_n, dⁿ, and δ_n denote the Kolmogorov, Gel′fand and linear n-widths, respectively. This result is an improvement of estimates previously obtained by Burchard and Höllig and by the author.     

Cesàro means of double Walsh-Fourier series

We investigate approximation properties of Cesàro (C; −α, −β)-means of double Walsh-Fourier series with α, β ∈ (0, 1). As an application, we obtain a sufficient condition for the convergence of the means σ _n,m ^/−α,−β (f; x, y) to f(x,y) in the L ^p -metric, p ∈ [1, ∞]. We also show that this sufficient condition cannot be improved.     

Characterization of generalized convex functions by their best approximation in sign-monotone norms

Let {u₀, u₁,… u_{n − 1}} and {u₀, u₁,…, u_n} be Tchebycheff-systems of continuous functions on [a, b] and let f ε C[a, b] be generalized convex with respect to {u₀, u₁,…, u_{n − 1}}. In a series of papers ([1], [2], [3]) D. Amir and Z. Ziegler discuss some properties of elements of best approximation to f from the linear spans of {u₀, u₁,…, u_{n − 1}} and {u₀, u₁,…, u_n} in the L_p-norms, 1 p ∞, and show (under different conditions for different values of p) that these properties, when valid for all subintervals of [a, b], can characterize generalized convex functions. Their methods of proof rely on characterizations of elements of best approximation in the L_p-norms, specific for each value of p. This work extends the above results to approximation in a wider class of norms, called “sign-monotone,” [6], which can be defined by the property: ¦ f(x)¦ ¦ g(x)¦,f(x)g(x) 0, a x b, imply f g . For sign-monotone norms in general, there is neither uniqueness of an element of best approximation, nor theorems characterizing it. Nevertheless, it is possible to derive many common properties of best approximants to generalized convex functions in these norms, by means of the necessary condition proved in [6]. For {u₀, u₁,…, u_n} an Extended-Complete Tchebycheff-system and f ε C⁽ⁿ⁾[a, b] it is shown that the validity of any of these properties on all subintervals of [a, b], implies that f is generalized convex. In the special case of f monotone with respect to a positive function u₀(x), a converse theorem is proved under less restrictive assumptions.     

Несимметричные приб лижения классов дифф еренцируемых функций алгебраичес кими многочленами в с реднем

Exact values of (, )-approximation by algebraic polynomials inL ₁ [ – 1, 1] for classes of differentiable functions are computed, when restrictions are given in theL ₁ norm of higher derivatives of these functions. As a corollary the best one-sided approximation of these classes is obtained.     

Roots under convolution of sequences

The convolution a * b of the sequences a = a₀, a₁, a₂, and b is the sequence with elements ∑₀ⁿ a_kb_{n − k}. One sets 1, 1, 1, equal to σ. Given that a * a with a ≥ 0 is close to σ * σ, how close is a to σ? More generally, one asks how close a is to σ if the p-th convolution power, a*P with a ≥ 0, is close to σ*P. Power series and complex analysis form a natural tool to estimate the ‘summed deviation’ ρ = σ * (a — σ) in terms of b = a * a — σ * σ or b = a*P − σ*P. Optimal estimates are found under the condition ∑_k=0ⁿ b_k² = %plane1D;512;(n^{2β + 1}) whenever −½ < β < p − 1. It is not known what the optimal estimates are for the special case b_n = %plane1D;512;(n^β).