A generalization ofL-splines

A theory of generalized splines is developed for all regular formally self adjoint differential operatorsL with real coefficients. A special case of such operators are those which may be factored in the formL =L₁^*L₁, such as those related to the generalized splines of Ahlberg, Nilson, and Walsh [1, 2], and theL-splines of Schultz and Varga [6]. Theorems giving unique interpolation, integral relations, and convergence rates are established. IfL has a certain positivity property, a useful extremal result is proven.This research was supported in part by a NASA Traineeship, at the Georgia Institute of Technology.