Approximations of Two-Place Functions by Finite Sums of Terms with Separable Variables

It is known that if a smooth function h in two real variables x and y belongs to the class Σ_n of all sums of the form Σⁿ_k=1ƒ_k(x) g_k(y), then its (n + 1)th order "Wronskian" deth_xⁱy^j]ⁿ_i,j=0 is identically equal to zero. The present paper deals with the approximation problem h(x, y) Σⁿ_k=1ƒ_k(x) g_k(y) with a prescribed n, for general smooth functions h not lying in Σ_n. Two natural approximation sums T=T(h) Σ_n, S=S(h) Σ_n are introduced and the errors |h-T|, |h-S| are estimated by means of the above mentioned Wronskian of the function h. The proofs utilize the technique of ordinary linear differential equations.