Approximation in rough native spaces by shifts of smooth kernels on spheres

Within the conventional framework of a native space structure, a smooth kernel generates a small native space, and “radial basis functions” stemming from the smooth kernel are intended to approximate only functions from this small native space. Therefore their approximation power is quite limited. Recently, Narcowich et al. (J. Approx. Theory 114 (2002) 70), and Narcowich and Ward (SIAM J. Math. Anal., to appear), respectively, have studied two approaches that have led to the empowerment of smooth radial basis functions in a larger native space. In the approach of [NW], the radial basis function interpolates the target function at some scattered (prescribed) points. In both approaches, approximation power of the smooth radial basis functions is achieved by utilizing spherical polynomials of a (possibly) large degree to form an intermediate approximation between the radial basis approximation and the target function. In this paper, we take a new approach. We embed the smooth radial basis functions in a larger native space generated by a less smooth kernel, and use them to approximate functions from the larger native space. Among other results, we characterize the best approximant with respect to the metric of the larger native space to be the radial basis function that interpolates the target function on a set of finite scattered points after the action of a certain multiplier operator. We also establish the error bounds between the best approximant and the target function.     

Multiscale RBF collocation for solving PDEs on spheres

In this paper, we discuss multiscale radial basis function collocation methods for solving certain elliptic partial differential equations on the unit sphere. The approximate solution is constructed in a multi-level fashion, each level using compactly supported radial basis functions of smaller scale on an increasingly fine mesh. Two variants of the collocation method are considered (sometimes called symmetric and unsymmetric, although here both are symmetric). A convergence theory is given, which builds on recent theoretical advances for multiscale approximation using compactly supported radial basis functions.     

Kernel based approximation in Sobolev spaces with radial basis functions

In this paper, we study several radial basis function approximation schemes in Sobolev spaces. We obtain an optional error estimate by using a class of smoothing operators. We also discussed sufficient conditions for the smoothing operators to attain the desired approximation order. We then construct the smoothing operators by some compactly supported radial kernels, and use them to approximate Sobolev space functions with optimal convergence order. These kernels can be simply constructed and readily applied to practical problems. The results show that the approximation power depends on the precision of the sampling instrument and the density of the available data.     

Multiscale analysis in Sobolev spaces on bounded domains

We study a multiscale scheme for the approximation of Sobolev functions on bounded domains. Our method employs scattered data sites and compactly supported radial basis functions of varying support radii at scattered data sites. The actual multiscale approximation is constructed by a sequence of residual corrections, where different support radii are employed to accommodate different scales. Convergence theorems for the scheme are proven, and it is shown that the condition numbers of the linear systems at each level are independent of the level, thereby establishing for the first time a mathematical theory for multiscale approximation with scaled versions of a single compactly supported radial basis function at scattered data points on a bounded domain.     

A meshless Galerkin method for Dirichlet problems using radial basis functions

In this paper, a numerical method is given for partial differential equations, which combines the use of Lagrange multipliers with radial basis functions. It is a new method to deal with difficulties that arise in the Galerkin radial basis function approximation applied to Dirichlet (also mixed) boundary value problems. Convergence analysis results are given. Several examples show the efficiency of the method using TPS or Sobolev splines.     

Multiscale methods with compactly supported radial basis functions for the Stokes problem on bounded domains

In this paper, we investigate the application of radial basis functions (RBFs) for the approximation with collocation of the Stokes problem. The approximate solution is constructed in a multi-level fashion, each level using compactly supported radial basis functions with decreasing scaling factors. We use symmetric collocation and give sufficient conditions for convergence and consider stability analysis. Numerical experiments support the theoretical results.     

Approximation by radial bases and neural networks

In this paper, we study approximation by radial basis functions including Gaussian, multiquadric, and thin plate spline functions, and derive order of approximation under certain conditions. Moreover, neural networks are also constructed by wavelet recovery formula and wavelet frames.     

A meshless method for Burgers’ equation using MQ-RBF and high-order temporal approximation

In this paper, a new numerical method is proposed to solve one-dimensional Burgers’ equation using multiquadric (MQ) radial basis function (RBF) for spatial approximation and a second-order compact finite difference scheme for temporal approximation. The numerical results obtained by this way for different Reynolds number have been compared with the existing numerical schemes to show the accuracy and efficiency of the approach. To show the superiority of this meshless method, numerical experiments with non-uniform MQ interpolation node distribution are also performed.     

Iterative adaptive RBF methods for detection of edges in two-dimensional functions

Radial basis functions have gained popularity for many applications including numerical solution of partial differential equations, image processing, and machine learning. For these applications it is useful to have an algorithm which detects edges or sharp gradients and is based on the underlying basis functions. In our previous research, we proposed an iterative adaptive multiquadric radial basis function method for the detection of local jump discontinuities in one-dimensional problems. The iterative edge detection method is based on the observation that the absolute values of the expansion coefficients of multiquadric radial basis function approximation grow exponentially in the presence of a local jump discontinuity with fixed shape parameters but grow only linearly with vanishing shape parameters. The different growth rate allows us to accurately detect edges in the radial basis function approximation. In this work, we extend the one-dimensional iterative edge detection method to two-dimensional problems. We consider two approaches: the dimension-by-dimension technique and the global extension approach. In both cases, we use a rescaling method to avoid ill-conditioning of the interpolation matrix. The global extension approach is less efficient than the dimension-by-dimension approach, but is applicable to truly scattered two-dimensional points, whereas the dimension-by-dimension approach requires tensor product grids. Numerical examples using both approaches demonstrate that the two-dimensional iterative adaptive radial basis function method yields accurate results.     

Comparison of Radial Basis Functions

A survey of algorithms for approximation of multivariate functions with radial basis function (RBF) splines is presented. Algorithms of interpolating, smoothing, selecting the smoothing parameter, and regression with splines are described in detail. These algorithms are based on the feature of conditional positive definiteness of the spline radial basis function. Several families of radial basis functions generated by means of conditionally completely monotone functions are considered. Recommendations for the selection of the spline basis and preparation of initial data for approximation with the help of the RBF spline are given.     

Finite integration method for partial differential equations

A finite integration method is proposed in this paper to deal with partial differential equations in which the finite integration matrices of the first order are constructed by using both standard integral algorithm and radial basis functions interpolation respectively. These matrices of first order can directly be used to obtain finite integration matrices of higher order. Combining with the Laplace transform technique, the finite integration method is extended to solve time dependent partial differential equations. The accuracy of both the finite integration method and finite difference method are demonstrated with several examples. It has been observed that the finite integration method using either radial basis function or simple linear approximation gives a much higher degree of accuracy than the traditional finite difference method.     

Adaptive radial basis function interpolation using an error indicator

In some approximation problems, sampling from the target function can be both expensive and time-consuming. It would be convenient to have a method for indicating where approximation quality is poor, so that generation of new data provides the user with greater accuracy where needed. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive algorithm for radial basis function (RBF) interpolation which aims to assess the local approximation quality, and add or remove points as required to improve the error in the specified region. For Gaussian and multiquadric approximation, we have the flexibility of a shape parameter which we can use to keep the condition number of interpolation matrix at a moderate size. Numerical results for test functions which appear in the literature are given for dimensions 1 and 2, to show that our method performs well. We also give a three-dimensional example from the finance world, since we would like to advertise RBF techniques as useful tools for approximation in the high-dimensional settings one often meets in finance.     

神经网络的函数逼近能力分析

本文综述了多层前传网络（ＭＬＰ）及径向基函数网络（ＲＢＦ）对函数任意精度逼近的能力，比较了两种网络的最佳逼近特性。对激活函数类的扩充作了介绍，并说明有限数值精度对函数逼近能力实现的影响。     

Coupling three-field formulation and meshless mixed Galerkin methods using radial basis functions

In this work, we solve the elliptic partial differential equation by coupling the meshless mixed Galerkin approximation using radial basis function with the three-field domain decomposition method. The formulation has been adopted to increase the efficiency of the numerical technique by decreasing the error and dealing with the ill conditioning of the linear system caused by the radial basis function. Convergence analysis of the coupled technique is treated and numerical results of some solved examples are given at the end of this paper.     

球面上径向基函数最小范数插值逼近的误差估计

研究了球面径向基插值对球面函数的逼近问题,给出了一致逼近的上界估计式．文中结果说明,球面径向基插值的逼近阶会随函数光滑性的提高而增加．     

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.     

Spherical Scattered Data Quasi-interpolation by Gaussian Radial Basis Function

Since the spherical Gaussian radial function is strictly positive definite, the authors use the linear combinations of translations of the Gaussian kernel to interpolate the scattered data on spheres in this article. Seeing that target functions are usually outside the native spaces, and that one has to solve a large scaled system of linear equations to obtain combinatorial coefficients of interpolant functions, the authors first probe into some problems about interpolation with Gaussian radial functions. Then they construct quasiinterpolation operators by Gaussian radial function, and get the degrees of approximation. Moreover, they show the error relations between quasi-interpolation and interpolation when they have the same basis functions. Finally, the authors discuss the construction and approximation of the quasi-interpolant with a local support function.     

RBF-PU方法求解二维非局部扩散问题和近场动力学问题

采用单位分解径向基函数(radial basis function partition of unity,RBF-PU)方法,数值求解了二维非局部扩散问题和近场动力学问题。主要思想是对求解区域进行局部划分,在局部子区域上分别进行函数逼近,然后加权得到未知函数的全局逼近。这种基于方程强形式的径向基函数方法在求解非局部问题时,不需要处理网格与球形邻域求交的问题,避免了额外的一层积分计算,实施简便,计算量小。数值实验显示计算结果与解析解吻合较好,RBF-PU方法可以准确有效地求解非局部扩散方程和近场动力学方程。     

The rate of approximation of Gaussian radial basis neural networks in continuous function space

There have been many studies on the dense theorem of approximation by radial basis feedforword neural networks, and some approximation problems by Gaussian radial basis feedforward neural networks(GRBFNs)in some special function space have also been investigated. This paper considers the approximation by the GRBFNs in continuous function space. It is proved that the rate of approximation by GRNFNs with n~d neurons to any continuous function f defined on a compact subset K(R~d)can be controlled by ω(f, n~(-1/2)), where ω(f, t)is the modulus of continuity of the function f .     

Rational radial basis function interpolation with applications to antenna design

Functions with poles occur in many branches of applied mathematics which involve resonance phenomena. Such functions are challenging to interpolate, in particular in higher dimensions. In this paper we develop a technique for interpolation with quotients of two radial basis function (RBF) expansions to approximate such functions as an alternative to rational approximation. Since the quotient is not uniquely determined we introduce an additional constraint, the sum of the RBF-norms of the numerator and denominator squared should be minimal subjected to a norm condition on the function values. The method was designed for antenna design applications and we show by examples that the scattering matrix for a patch antenna as a function of some design parameters can be approximated accurately with the new method. In many cases, e.g. in antenna optimization, the function evaluations are time consuming, and therefore it is important to reduce the number of evaluations but still obtain a good approximation. A sensitivity analysis of the new interpolation technique is carried out and it gives indications how efficient adaptation methods could be devised. A family of such methods are evaluated on antenna data and the results show that much performance can be gained by choosing the right method.