Solving two-point boundary value problems with spline functions

We consider a collocation method for the approximation of thesolution of the nonlinear two-point boundary value problem y'(x)=f(x,y(x)), y(a)=A, y(b)=B, using splines of degree m3. The methodwhich we shall use leads to a system of recurrence relationswhich can be solved by Newton's method. By obtaining asymptotic error bounds we verify a conjectureof Khalifa & Eilbeck, i.e. splines of even degree can giveeven better solutions than splines of odd degree in certaincases.     

On the Interpolation by Discrete Splines with Equidistant Nodes

In this paper we consider equidistant discrete splines S(j), j , which may grow as O(|j|^s) as |j|→∞. Such splines are relevant for the purposes of digital signal processing. We give the definition of the discrete B-splines and describe their properties. Discrete splines are defined as linear combinations of shifts of the B-splines. We present a solution to the problem of discrete spline cardinal interpolation of the sequences of power growth and prove that the solution is unique within the class of discrete splines of a given order.     

Relations between the support of a compactly supported function and the exponential-polynomials spanned by its integer translates

The interrelation between the shape of the support of a compactly supported function and the space of all exponential-polynomials spanned by its integer translates is examined. The results obtained are in terms of the behavior of these exponential-polynomials on certain finite subsets ofZ ^s , which are determined by the support of the given function. Several applications are discussed. Among these is the construction of quasi-interpolants of minimal support and the construction of a piecewise-polynomial whose integer translates span a polynomial space which is not scale-invariant. As to polynomial box splines, it is proved here that in many cases a polynomial box spline admits a certain optimality condition concerning the space of the total degree polynomials spanned by its integer translates: This space is maximal compared with the spaces corresponding to other functions with the same supportCommunicated by Klaus Höllig.     

A Characterization of Finite Soluble Groups by Laws in Two Variables

Define a sequence (s_n) of two-variable words in variables x,y as follows: s₀(x, y) = x, s_n+1(x,y)=[s_n(x, y]^–y, s_n(x,y)for n 0. It is shown that a finite group G is soluble if andonly if s_n is a law of G for all but finitely many values ofn. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20D10, 20D06.     

The Numerical Calculation of Odd-degree Polynomial Splines with Equi-spaced Knots

Constructive equations for polynomial splines of odd-degree2r+1 with knots x₁ = x₀+ih, i = 0(1)n are formulated in termsof even-order derivatives, odd-order derivatives being givenby explicit formulae which are shown to be identical with truncatedTaylor series expansions of the same form. The defining equationsare written in a manner which reveals a strong connection withthe well-known Numerov formula. Solution of the equations byblock iterative methods is considered for the case when evenderivatives are specified at x = x₀ and x_n. Block Jacobi andblock Gauss—Seidel iteration are shown to be convergentfor all positive r and optimum acceleration parameters for blockS.O.R. are given for r = 2(1)6. It is shown that distinct computationaladvantages result from relaxing the condition for a true splinefit and considering instead a truncated spline of higher order.     

Sharp Results Concerning the Expression of Functions as Sums of Finite Differences

Let * denote convolution and let _x denote the Dirac measureat a point x. A function in L²(R)) is called a difference oforder 1 if it is of the form g-_x * g for some x R and g L²(R)).Also, a difference of order 2 is a function of the form for some x R and g L²(R)). In fact,the concept of a ‘difference of order s’ may bedefined in a similar manner for each s 0. If f denotes the Fouriertransform of f, it is known that a function f in L²(R)) is afinite sum of differences of order s if and only if , and the vector space of all suchfunctions is denoted by D_s (L²(R)). Every function in D_s (L²(R))is a sum of int(2s) + 1 differences of order s, where int(t)denotes the integer part of t. Thus, every function in D₁ (L²(R))is a sum of three first order differences, but it was provedin 1994 that there is a function in D₁ (L(R)) which is neverthe sum of two first order differences. This complemented, forthe group R, the corresponding result for first order differencesobtained by Meisters and Schmidt in 1972 for the circle group.The results show that there is a function in L₂ R such that,for each s 1/2, this function is a sum of int (2s) + 1 differencesof order s but it is never the sum of int (2s) differences oforder s. The proof depends upon extending to higher dimensionsthe following result in two dimensions obtained by Schmidt in1972 in connection with Heilbronn's problem: if x₁, x__n arepoints in the unit square, Following on from the work of Meisters and Schmidt, this workfurther develops a connection between certain estimates in combinatorialgeometry and some questions of sharpness in harmonic analysis.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 42A38 (primary), 52A40(secondary).     

Integral representation of slowly growing equidistant splines

In this paper we consider polynomial splines S(x) with equidistant nodes which may grow as O (|x|^s). We present an integral representation of such splines with a distribution kernel. This representation is related to the Fourier integral of slowly growing functions. The part of the Fourier exponentials herewith play the so called exponential splines by Schoenberg. The integral representation provides a flexible tool for dealing with the growing equidistant splines. First, it allows us to construct a rich library of splines possessing the property that translations of any such spline form a basis of corresponding spline space. It is shown that any such spline is associated with a dual spline whose translations form a biorthogonal basis. As examples we present solutions of the problems of projection of a growing function onto spline spaces and of spline interpolation of a growing function. We derive formulas for approximate evaluation of splines projecting a function onto the spline space and establish therewith exact estimations of the approximation errors.     

The Distribution of the Summatory Function of the Mobius Function

The summatory function of the Möbius function is denotedM(x). In this article we deduce conditional results concerningM(x) assuming the Riemann hypothesis and a conjecture of Gonekand Hejhal on the negative moments of the Riemann zeta function.Assuming these conjectures, we show that M(x), when appropriatelynormalized, possesses a limiting distribution, and also thata strong form of the weak Mertens conjecture is true. Finally,we speculate on the lower order of M(x) by studying the constructeddistribution function. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification11M26, 11N56.     

Periodic Quartic Splines with Equi-spaced Knots

We define a periodic quartic spline s from its nodal values.We show existence and uniqueness of such splines and obtainerror bounds of the form .     

Splines with maximal zero sets

Consider a spline s(x) of degree n with L knots of specified multiplicities R₁, …, R_L, which satisfies r sign consistent mixed boundary conditions in addition to s⁽ⁿ⁾(a) = 1. Such a spline has at most n + 1 ?r + ∑_{j = 1}^LR_j zeros in (a, b) which fulfill an interlacing condition with the knots if s(x) ? = 0 everywhere. Conversely, given a set of n ?r + ∑_{j = 1}^LR_j zeros then for any choice η₁ < ··· < η_L of the knot locations which fulfills the interlacing condition with the zeros, the unique spline s(x) possessing these knots and zeros and satisfying the boundary conditions is such that s⁽ⁿ⁾(x) vanishes nowhere and changes sign at η_j if and only if R_j is odd. Moreover there exists a choice of the knot locations, not necessarily unique, which makes $\text{¦s}{}^{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{(x)¦ ≡ 1}$. In particular, this establishes the existence of monosplines and perfect splines with knots of given multiplicities, satisfying the mixed boundary conditions and possessing a prescribed maximal zero set. An application is given to double-precision quadrature formulas with mixed boundary terms and a certain polynomial extremal problem connected with it.     

Explicit Error Bounds for Periodic Splines of Odd Order on a Uniform Mesh

The dependence relationships connecting equal interval splinesand their derivatives are analysed to obtain the form of theerror term when the spline is replaced by a general function.The defining equations for periodic splines of odd order ona uniform mesh are then expressed in terms of a positive definitecirculant matrix A and attainable bounds determined for thecondition number of A and for the norm of A^-1. In conjunctionwith the error term associated with the dependence relationships,this enables explicit error bounds to be established for thederivatives at the knots of the spline function. Some subsidiary results in the paper also relate to B-splineson a uniform mesh.     

Increased Accuracy Cubic Spline Solutions to Two-Point Boundary Value Problems

The relation between finite difference approximation and cubicspline solutions of a two-point boundary value problem for thedifferential equation y' +f(x)y^'+g(x)y = r(x) has been consideredin a previous paper. The present paper extends the analysisto the integral equation formulation of the problem. It is shownthat an improvement in accuracy (local truncation error O(h⁶)rather than O(h⁴)) now results from a cubic spline approximationand that for the particular case f(x) 0 the resulting recurrencerelations have a form and accuracy similar to the well-knownNumerov formula. For this case also a formula with local truncationerror O(h⁸) is derived.     

On the Poles of Igusa's Local Zeta Function for Algebraic Sets

Let K be a p-adic field, let Z (s, f), sC, with Re(s) > 0,be the Igusa local zeta function associated to f(x) = (f₁(x),..., f_l(x)) [K (x₁, ..., x_n)]^l, and let be a Schwartz–Bruhatfunction. The aim of this paper is to describe explicitly thepoles of the meromorphic continuation of Z (s, f). Using resolutionof singularities it is possible to express Z (s, f) as a finitesum of p-adic monomial integrals. These monomial integrals arecomputed explicitly by using techniques of toroidal geometry.In this way, an explicit list of the candidates for poles ofZ (s, f) is obtained. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification11S40, 14M25, 11D79.     

Robust univariate spline models for interpolating interval data

We consider spline interpolation problems where information about the approximated function is given by means of interval estimates for the function values over ranges of x-values instead of specific knots. We propose two robust univariate spline models formulated as convex semi-infinite optimization problems. We present simplified equivalent formulations of both models as finite explicit convex optimization problems for splines of degrees up to 3. This makes it possible to use existing convex optimization algorithms and software.     

Multistep Discretization of Linear Hyperbolic Equations

Order and stability of multistep finite-difference discretizationsof the first-order linear hyperbolic equation u₁ = a(x)u_x areconsidered. We prove that if a stable method uses s upwind andrdownwind points and the coefficients depend only on the Courantnumber and on a(x) and its derivatives at the underlying gridpoint, then the order may not exceed r + s. This bound on orderis exactly half the bound of Strang & Iserles (1983) forconstant a. Furthermore, we prove that if r = s and a(x) isboth uniformly bounded and uniformly positive for x R thenthe new order barrier is attainable for every s 1.     

Cones and recurrence relations for simplex splines

We prove some new relations between functions defined as shadows of cones (cone splines) and simplices (simplex splines). We use them to show how ans-variate simplex spline of some orderk can be written as a sum ofk+1 (s-l)-variate simplex splines of orderk-1. A recurrence relation on the spatial dimension of the simplex spline,s, is proposed as an interesting alternative to the recurrence relation in [17], where one uses the orderk for recursion, but not the spatial dimensions.     

One Cubic Diophantine Inequality

Suppose that G(x) is a form, or homogeneous polynomial, of odddegree d in s variables, with real coefficients. Schmidt [15]has shown that there exists a positive integer s₀(d), whichdepends only on the degree d, so that if s s₀(d), then thereis an x Z^s\{0} satisfying the inequality |G(x)|<1. (1) In other words, if there are enough variables, in terms of thedegree only, then there is a nontrivial solution to (1). Lets₀(d) be the minimum integer with the above property. In thecourse of proving this important result, Schmidt did not explicitlygive upper bounds for s₀(d). His methods do indicate how todo so, although not very efficiently. However, in fact muchearlier, Pitman [13] provided explicit bounds in the case whenG is a cubic. We consider a general cubic form F(x) with realcoefficients, in s variables, and look at the inequality |F(x)|<1. (2) Specifically, Pitman showed that if s(1314)²⁵⁶–1, (3) then inequality (2) is non-trivially soluble in integers. Wepresent the following improvement of this bound.     

On the Compactness of the Nonlinear Evolution Operator in a Banach Space

Let X be a real Banach space and let A(t): X 2^x be dissipativefor all t(0, T). Assume that {A(t)} generates an evolution operatorU(t, s) of type (D, , f). Necessary and sufficient conditionsare given for the compactness of U(t, s) for 0 s < t <T.     

Explicit calculation of interpolating cubic splines on equi-distant knots

The coefficients of the cubic splines(x) interpolating to the functionf(x) on the equi-distant knots,x _i =ih(i=0(1)n andh=1/n) in the interval [0, 1], are determined explicitly in the cases whenf(x) is either periodic or has linear combinations of the first and second derivatives specified as boundary conditions.The effects of perturbations in the boundary conditions are analysed in closed form and exact results given for the ensuing changes in the spline fit. As illustration of the techniques a numerical example is given.     

Polar functions and intersections of the random string processes

Let {us(x) : s ≥ 0 , x ∈R} be a random string taking values in Rd . The main goal of this paper is to discuss the characteristics of the polar functions of {u s(x) : s ≥ 0 , x∈R} . The relationship between a class of continuous functions satisfying the H¨older condition and a class of polar-functions of {us (x) : s ≥ 0 , x ∈R} is presented. The Hausdorff and packing dimensions of the set that the string intersects a given non-polar continuous function are determined. The upper and lower bounds are obtained for the probability that the string intersects a given function in terms of respectively Hausdorff measure and capacity.