On the optimal approximation rates for criss-cross finite element spaces

Let Δ denote the triangulation of the plane obtained by multi-integer translates of the four lines x=0, y=0, x=y and x=?y. By $\text{l}{}_{\mathrm{k,\; h}}{}^{\mathrm{\mu }}$ we mean the space of all piecewise polynomials of degree ?k with respect to the scaled triangulation hΔ having continuous partial derivatives of order $\text{?μ}\text{on}\text{R}{}^2$. We show that the approximation properties of $\text{l}{}_{\mathrm{k,\; h}}{}^{\mathrm{\mu }}$ are completely governed by those of the space spanned by the translates of all so called box splines contained in $\text{l}{}_{\mathrm{k,h}}{}^{\mathrm{\mu }}$. Combining this fact with Fourier analysis techniques allows us to determine the optimal controlled approximation rates for the above subspace of box splines where μ is the largest degree of smoothness for which these spaces are dense as h tends to zero. Furthermore, we study the question of local linear dependence of the translates of the box splines for the above criss-cross triangulations.