Shape-preserving approximation inL p

We prove a direct theorem for shape preservingL _p -approximation, 0p, in terms of the classical modulus of smoothnessw ₂(f, t _p ¹ ). This theorem may be regarded as an extension toL _p of the well-known pointwise estimates of the Timan type and their shape-preserving variants of R. DeVore, D. Leviatan, and X. M. Yu. It leads to a characterization of monotone and convex functions in Lipschitz classes (and more general Besov spaces) in terms of their approximation by algebraic polynomials.Communicated by Ron DeVore.     

Integration and approximation in arbitrary dimensions

We study multivariate integration and approximation for various classes of functions of d variables with arbitrary d. We consider algorithms that use function evaluations as the information about the function. We are mainly interested in verifying when integration and approximation are tractable and strongly tractable. Tractability means that the minimal number of function evaluations needed to reduce the initial error by a factor of ɛ is bounded by C(d)ɛ^−p for some exponent p independent of d and some function C(d). Strong tractability means that C(d) can be made independent of d. The ‐exponents of tractability and strong tractability are defined as the smallest powers of ɛ{^-1} in these bounds. We prove that integration is strongly tractable for some weighted Korobov and Sobolev spaces as well as for the Hilbert space whose reproducing kernel corresponds to the covariance function of the isotropic Wiener measure. We obtain bounds on the ‐exponents, and for some cases we find their exact values. For some weighted Korobov and Sobolev spaces, the strong ‐exponent is the same as the ‐exponent for d=1, whereas for the third space it is 2. For approximation we also consider algorithms that use general evaluations given by arbitrary continuous linear functionals as the information about the function. Our main result is that the ‐exponents are the same for general and function evaluations. This holds under the assumption that the orthonormal eigenfunctions of the covariance operator have uniformly bounded L∞ norms. This assumption holds for spaces with shift-invariant kernels. Examples of such spaces include weighted Korobov spaces. For a space with non‐shift‐invariant kernel, we construct the corresponding space with shift-invariant kernel and show that integration and approximation for the non-shift-invariant kernel are no harder than the corresponding problems with the shift-invariant kernel. If we apply this construction to a weighted Sobolev space, whose kernel is non-shift-invariant, then we obtain the corresponding Korobov space. This enables us to derive the results for weighted Sobolev spaces. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Padé approximation and Apostol-Bernoulli and Apostol-Euler polynomials

Using the Padé approximation of the exponential function, we obtain recurrence relations between Apostol-Bernoulli and between Apostol-Euler polynomials. As applications, we derive some new lacunary recurrence relations for Bernoulli and Euler polynomials with gap of length 4 and lacunary relations for Bernoulli and Euler numbers with gap of length 6.     

Sharp inequalities for approximations of convolution classes on the real line as the limit case of inequalities for periodic convolutions

We establish sharp estimates for the best approximations of convolution classes by entire functions of exponential type. To obtain these estimates, we propose a new method for testing Nikol’ski?-type conditions which is based on kernel periodization with an arbitrarily large period and ensuing passage to the limit. As particular cases, we obtain sharp estimates for approximation of convolution classes with variation diminishing kernels and generalized Bernoulli and Poisson kernels.     

Statistical approximation theorems by k-positive linear operators

In this paper, using A-statistical convergence we obtain various approximation theorems by means of k-positive linear operators defined on the space of all analytic functions on the unit disk. Received: 17 February 2005     

Discrete operators of sampling type and approximation in ‐variation

The paper deals with approximation results with respect to the φ‐variation by means of a family of discrete operators for φ‐absolutely continuous functions. In particular, for the considered family of operators and for the error of approximation, we first obtain some estimates which are important in order to prove the main result of convergence in φ‐variation. The problem of the rate of approximation is also studied. The discrete operators that we consider are deeply connected to some problems of linear prediction from samples in the past, and therefore have important applications in several fields, such as, for example, in speech processing. Moreover such family of operators coincides, in a particular case, with the generalized sampling‐type series on a subset of the space of the φ‐absolutely continuous functions: therefore we are able to obtain a result of convergence in variation also for the generalized sampling‐type series. Some examples are also discussed.     

Error estimates of quasi-interpolation and its derivatives

Quasi-interpolation of radial basis functions on finite grids is a very useful strategy in approximation theory and its applications. A notable strongpoint of the strategy is to obtain directly the approximants without the need to solve any linear system of equations. For radial basis functions with Gaussian kernel, there have been more studies on the interpolation and quasi-interpolation on infinite grids. This paper investigates the approximation by quasi-interpolation operators with Gaussian kernel on the compact interval. The approximation errors for two classes of function with compact support sets are estimated. Furthermore, the approximation errors of derivatives of the approximants to the corresponding derivatives of the approximated functions are estimated. Finally, the numerical experiments are presented to confirm the accuracy of the approximations.     

Behavior of alternation points in best rational approximation

The behavior of the equioscillation points (alternants) for the error in best uniform approximation on [–1, 1] by rational functions of degreen is investigated. In general, the points of the alternants need not be dense in [–1, 1], even when approximation by rational functions of degree (m, n) is considered and asymptoticallym/n 1. We show, however, that if more thanO(logn) poles of the approximants stay at a positive distance from [–1, 1], then asymptotic denseness holds, at least for a subsequence. Furthermore, we obtain stronger distribution results when n (0 < 1) poles stay away from [–1, 1]. In the special case when a Markoff function is approximated, the distribution of the equioscillation points is related to the asymptotics for the degree of approximation.The research of this author was supported, in part, by NSF grant DMS 920-3659.     

Widths of embeddings in function spaces

We study the approximation, Gelfand and Kolmogorov numbers of embeddings in function spaces of Besov and Triebel-Lizorkin type. Our aim here is to provide sharp estimates in several cases left open in the literature and give a complete overview of the known results. We also add some historical remarks.     

Greedy Algorithms with Regard to Multivariate Systems with Special Structure

The question of finding an optimal dictionary for nonlinear m -term approximation is studied in this paper. We consider this problem in the periodic multivariate (d variables) case for classes of functions with mixed smoothness. We prove that the well-known dictionary U ^d which consists of trigonometric polynomials (shifts of the Dirichlet kernels) is nearly optimal among orthonormal dictionaries. Next, it is established that for these classes near-best m -term approximation, with regard to U ^d , can be achieved by simple greedy-type (thresholding-type) algorithms. The univariate dictionary U is used to construct a dictionary which is optimal among dictionaries with the tensor product structure. June 22, 1998. Date revised: March 26, 1999. Date accepted: March 22, 1999.     

New results for best approximation on Banach lattices

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and to discuss the concept of approximation preserving operators on Banach lattices with a strong unit. We show that every lattice isomorphism is an approximation preserving operator. Also we give a necessary and sufficient condition for uniqueness of the best approximation by closed normal subsets of X⁺$X^{+}$, and show that this condition is characterized by some special operators.     

On the stability of some classical operators from approximation theory

We obtain some results on Hyers–Ulam stability for some classical operators from approximation theory. For Bernstein operators we determine the Hyers–Ulam constant using a result concerning coefficient bounds of Lorentz representation for a polynomial.     

On the degree of approximation by spline functions with free knots

Summary A comparison theorem is derived for Chebyshev approximation by spline functions with free knots. This generalizes a result of Bernstein for approximation by polynomials.     

Multivariate simultaneous approximation

Theorems of Jackson type are given, for the simultaneous approximation of a function of class C^m and its partial derivatives, by a polynomial and the corresponding partial derivatives.     

On best error bounds for approximation by piecewise polynomial functions

Summary An analog of the well-known Jackson-Bernstein-Zygmund theory on best approximation by trigonometric polynomials is developed for approximation methods which use piecewise polynomial functions. Interpolation and best approximation by polynomial splines, Hermite and finite element functions are examples of such methods. A direct theorem is proven for methods which are stable, quasi-linear and optimally accurate for sufficiently smooth functions. These assumptions are known to be satisfied in many cases of practical interest. Under a certain additional assumption, on the family of meshes, an inverse theorem is proven which shows that the direct theorem is sharp.The work presented in this paper was supported by the ERDA Mathematics and Computing Laboratory, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, under Contract E(11-1)-3077 with the Energy Research and Development Administration.     

Monte Carlo approximation of weakly singular integral operators

We study the randomized approximation of weakly singular integral operators. For a suitable class of kernels having a standard type of singularity and being otherwise of finite smoothness, we develop a Monte Carlo multilevel method, give convergence estimates and prove lower bounds which show the optimality of this method and establish the complexity. As an application we obtain optimal methods for and the complexity of randomized solution of the Poisson equation in simple domains, when the solution is sought on subdomains of arbitrary dimension.     

On approximation of functions by algebraic polynomials in Hölder spaces

We study approximation of functions by algebraic polynomials in the Hölder spaces corresponding to the generalized Jacobi translation and the Ditzian–Totik moduli of smoothness. By using modifications of the classical moduli of smoothness, we give improvements of the direct and inverse theorems of approximation and prove the criteria of the precise order of decrease of the best approximation in these spaces. Moreover, we obtain strong converse inequalities for some methods of approximation of functions. As an example, we consider approximation by the Durrmeyer–Bernstein polynomial operators.     

Convergence in Variation and Rate of Approximation for Nonlinear Integral Operators of Convolution Type

In this paper we obtain estimates, convergence results and rate of approximation for functions belonging to BV–spaces (spaces of functions with bounded variation) by means of nonlinear convolution integral operators. We treat both the periodic and the non-periodic case using, respectively, the classical Jordan variation and the multidimensional variation in the sense of Tonelli.     

Fourier analysis of the approximation power of principal shift-invariant spaces

The approximation order provided by a directed set {S _h } _h>0 of spaces, each spanned by thehZ ^d -translates of one function, is analyzed. The nearoptimal approximants of [R2] from eachs _h to the exponential functions are used to establish upper bounds on the approximation order. These approximants are also used on the Fourier transform domain to yield approximations for other smooth functions, and thereby provide lower bounds on the approximation order. As a special case, the classical Strang-Fix conditions are extended to bounded summable generating functions.The second part of the paper consists of a detailed account of various applications of these general results to spline and radial function theory. Emphasis is given to the case when the scale {s _h } is obtained froms ₁ by means other than dilation. This includes the derivation of spectral approximation orders associated with smooth positive definite generating functions.     

More on Comonotone Polynomial Approximation

The main achievement of this paper is that we show, what was to us, a surprising conclusion, namely, twice continuously differentiable functions in (0,1) (with some regular behavior at the endpoints) which change monotonicity at least once in the interval, are approximable better by comonotone polynomials, than are such functions that are merely monotone. We obtain Jackson-type estimates for the comonotone polynomial approximation of such functions that are impossible to achieve for monotone approximation. July 7, 1998. Date revised: May 5, 1999. Date accepted: July 23, 1999.