The Bernstein Constant and Polynomial Interpolation at the Chebyshev Nodes

In this paper, we establish new asymptotic relations for the errors of approximation in L_p[−1,1], 0<p∞, of x^λ, λ>0, by the Lagrange interpolation polynomials at the Chebyshev nodes of the first and second kind. As a corollary, we show that the Bernstein constant

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is finite for λ>0 and .     

Orthogonal Rational Functions and Nested Disks

In Akhiezer's book [“The Classical Moment Problem and Some Related Questions in Analysis,” Oliver & Boyd, Edinburghasol;London, 1965] the uniqueness of the solution of the Hamburger moment problem, if a solution exists, is related to a theory of nested disks in the complex plane. The purpose of the present paper is to develop a similar nested disk theory for a moment problem that arises in the study of certain orthogonal rational functions. Let {α_n}^∞_n=0be a sequence in the open unit disk in the complex plane, let

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( /|α_k|=−1 whenα_k=0), and let

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We consider the following “moment” problem: Given a positive-definite Hermitian inner product ·, · on × , find a non-decreasing functionμon [−π, π] (or a positive Borel measureμon [−π,π)) such that

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In particular we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the solution in the case that If this series diverges the solution is always unique.     

Prophet inequalities for parallel processes

Generalizations of prophet inequalities for single sequences are obtained for optimal stopping of several parallel sequences of independent random variables. For example, if {X_{i, j}, 1 ≤ i ≤ n, 1 ≤ j < ∞} are independent non-negative random variables, then

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and this bound is best possible. Applications are made to comparisons of the optimal expected returns of various alternative methods of stopping of parallel processes.     

Interpretation of the Lavrentiev phenomenon by relaxation

We consider functionals of the calculus of variations of the form F(u)= ∝₀¹ f(x, u, u′) dx defined for u ε W^1,∞(0, 1), and we show that the relaxed functional with respect to weak W^1,1(0, 1) convergence can be written as

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, where the additional term L(u), called the Lavrentiev term, is explicitly identified in terms of F.     

Summability of Product Jacobi Expansions

Orthogonal expansions in product Jacobi polynomials with respect to the weight function W_α, β(x)=∏^d_j=1 (1−x_j)^α_j (1+x_j)^β_j on [−1, 1]^d are studied. For α_j, β_j>−1 and α_j+β_j−1, the Cesàro (C, δ) means of the product Jacobi expansion converge in the norm of L^p(W_{α, β}, [−1, 1]^d), 1p<∞, and C([−1, 1]^d) if

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Moreover, for α_j, β_j−1/2, the (C, δ) means define a positive linear operator if and only if δ∑^d_i=1 (α_i+β_i)+3d−1.     

A generalization of Everett's result on the Collatz 3x + 1 problem

It is a well-known conjecture that given m ε N, the set of natural numbers, the sequence {m_n}^∞_n−0, defined by the iterative formula m₀ = m,

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has some iterate m_j = 1. It is shown in this paper that for any k ε N, “almost every” natural number m greater than unity has k iterates less than m.     

A Sharp Inequality of Markov Type for Polynomials Associated with Laguerre Weight

The best possible constant A_n in an inequality of Markov type

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, where ·_[0, ∞) denotes the sup-norm on the half real line [0, ∞) and p_n is an arbitrary polynomial of degree at most n, is determined in terms of the weighted Chebyshev polynomials associated with the Laguerre weight e^−x on [0, ∞).     

Inequalities for Cyclic Functions

The nth cyclic function is defined by

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We prove that if k is an integer with 1kn−1, then

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holds for all positive real numbers x with the best possible constantsα=1 and β= 2n-k over n.     

On Chebyshev–Markov Rational Functions over Several Intervals

Chebyshev–Markov rational functions are the solutions of the following extremal problem

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withKbeing a compact subset of andω_n(x) being a fixed real polynomial of degree less thann, positive onK. A parametric representation of Chebyshev–Markov rational functions is found forK=[b₁, b₂]…[b_2p−1, b_2p], −∞<b₁b₂<…<b_2p−1b_2p<+∞ in terms of Schottky–Burnside automorphic functions.     

Functions of class Lip(α, p) and their Taylor mean

The object of this paper is to study the rapidity of convergence of the Taylor mean of the Fourier series of ƒ(x) when ƒ(x) belongs to the class Lip(α, p). We show that it is of Jackson order provided that a suitable integrability condition is imposed upon the function

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.     

Weierstrass'' Theorem in Weighted Sobolev Spaces

We characterize the set of functions which can be approximated by polynomials with the following norm

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for a big class of weights w₀, w₁, …, w_k     

Asymptotics for Lp extremal polynomials on the unit circle

Let p > 1, and dμ a positive finite Borel measure on the unit circle Γ: = {z ε C: ¦z¦ = 1}. Define the monic polynomial φ_{n, p}(z)=zⁿ+…εP_n >(the set of polynomials of degree at most n) satisfying

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. Under certain conditions on dμ, the asymptotics of φ_{n, p}(z) for z outside, on, or inside Γ are obtained (cf. Theorems 2.2 and 2.4). Zero distributions of φ_{n, p} are also discussed (cf. Theorems 3.1 and 3.2).     

On the Denseness of Rational Systems

This note characterizes the denseness of rational systems

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in C[−1, 1], where the nonreal poles in {a_k}^∞_k=1 \[−1, 1] are paired by complex conjugation. This extends an Achiezer's result.     

Estimates of Freud-Christoffel functions for some weights with the whole real line as support

Upper and lower bounds for generalized Christoffel functions, called Freud-Christoffel functions, are obtained. These have the form λ_n,p(W,j,x) = infPW_Lp(R)/|P^(j)(X)| where the infimum is taken over all polynomials P(x) of degree at most n − 1. The upper and lower bounds for λ_n,p(W,j,x) are obtained for all 0 < p ∞ and J = 0, 1, 2, 3,… for weights W(x) = exp(−Q(x)), where, among other things, Q(x) is bounded in [− A, A], and Q″ is continuous in β(−A, A) for some A > 0. For p = ∞, the lower bounds give a simple proof of local and global Markov-Bernstein inequalities. For p = 2, the results remove some restrictions on Q in Freud's work. The weights considered include W(x) = exp(− ¦x¦^α/2), α > 0, and W(x) = exp(− exp(¦x¦)), > 0.     

Asymptotic Behaviour of Best lp-Approximations from Affi ne Subspaces

In this paper we consider the problem of best approximation in ℓ_pⁿ, 1<p∞. If h_p, 1<p<∞, denotes the best ℓ_p-approximation of the element h ⁿ from a proper affine subspace K of ⁿ, hK, then lim_p→∞h_p=h_∞^*, where h_∞^* is a best uniform approximation of h from K, the so-called strict uniform approximation. Our aim is to prove that for all r there are α_j ⁿ, 1jr, such that

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, with γ_p^{(r) n} and γ_p^(r)= (p^−r−1).     

Precise asymptotics in some strong limit theorems for multidimensionally indexed random variables

Consider Z₊^d (d2)—the positive d-dimensional lattice points with partial ordering , let {X_k,kZ₊^d} be i.i.d. random variables with mean 0, and set S_n=∑_knX_k, nZ₊^d. We establish precise asymptotics for ∑_n|n|^r/p−2P(|S_n||n|^1/p), and for

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, (0δ1) as 0, and for

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as .     

Oblique Projections and Abstract Splines

Given a closed subspace of a Hilbert space and a bounded linear operator AL( ) which is positive, consider the set of all A-self-adjoint projections onto :

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In addition, if ₁ is another Hilbert space, T: → ₁ is a bounded linear operator such that T^*T=A and ξ , consider the set of (T, ) spline interpolants to ξ:

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A strong relationship exists between (A, ) and sp(T, ,ξ). In fact, (A, ) is not empty if and only if s p(T, ,ξ) is not empty for every ξ . In this case, for any ξ it holds

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and for any ξ , the unique vector of s p(T, ,ξ) with minimal norm is (1−P_A, )ξ, where P_A, is a distinguished element of (A, ). These results offer a generalization to arbitrary operators of several theorems by de Boor, Atteia, Sard and others, which hold for closed range operators.     

Target pattern solutions to reaction-diffusion equations in the presence of impurities

We consider reaction-diffusion equations of the special type

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having compact support in x. Assumptions about the relevant space scales and size of the catalytic effect exactly parallel those of Hagan (Advances in Appl. Math., 2 (1981), 400–416). The results are also parallel: For x of dimension one or two, if Ω(x) ≥ 0, Ω 0, then a unique target pattern solution which stays locally close to the homogeneous limit cycle solution. If x has dimension three, there is such a solution provided that Ω(x) is sufficiently large. Thus this paper shows that the phenomena uncovered formally by Hagan for a much larger class of kinetic equations can be rigorously substantiated for λ — ω systems.     

A generalization of a theorem of Pringsheim

We consider noncommutative continued fractions of the form b₀ + a₁(b₁ + a₂(b₂ + a₃(…)⁻¹ c₃)⁻¹ c₂)⁻¹ c₁, (1) where a_n, b_n and c_n are elements of some Banach algebra B and b_n⁻¹ exists. Such expressions play an important role in the numerical investigation of various problems in theoretical physics and in applied mathematics, but up to now their convergence was not studied in the general case. In this paper we prove a theorem which is an extension of a wellknown theorem of Pringsheim and, in particular, guarantees the convergence of (1) under the following hypotheses:

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. As an application, we give a generalization of a theorem of van Vleck. The paper closes with an extensive bibliography.     

Lp Markov–Bernstein Inequalities on All Arcs of the Circle

Let 0<p<∞ and 0α<β2π. We prove that for n1 and trigonometric polynomials s_n of degree n, we have

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cn^p ∫^β_α |s_n(θ)|^p dθ, where c is independent of α, β, n, s_n. The essential feature is the uniformity in [α,β] of the estimate and the fact that as [α,β] approaches [0,2π], we recover the L_p Markov inequality. The result may be viewed as the complete L_p form of Videnskii's inequalities, improving earlier work of the second author.