Spline Approximation Methods with Uniform Meshes in Algebras of Multiplication and Convolution Operators

The purpose of this paper is to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for maximum defect spline approximation methods with uniform meshes to be stable. The methods are applied to operators belonging to the closed subalgebra of ℒ︁ (L² (ℝ)) generated by operators of multiplication by piecewise continuous functions on ℝ and convolution operators also with piecewise continuousgenerating functions. To that purpose, a C*-algebra of sequences is introduced, which contains the special sequences of approximating operators we are interested in. There is a direct relationship between the applicability of the approximation method to a given operator and invertibility of the corresponding sequence in this C*-algebra. Exploring this relationship, applicability criteria are derived by the use of C*-algebra and Banach algebra techniques (essentialization, localization andidentification of the local algebras by means of construction of locally equivalent representations). Finally, examples are presented, including explicit conditions for the applicability of spline Galerkin methods to Wiener-Hopf operators with piecewise continuous symbols.