Quasi-interpolation by quadratic piecewise polynomials in three variables (Q2573852)

The authors describe a new local spline method which uses quadratic piecewise polynomials in three variables. This method is based on trivariate splines of lowest possible degree while appropriate smoothness conditions are satisfied. They prove that the splines yield nearly optimal approximation order while simultaneously its piecewise derivatives provide optimal approximation of the derivatives for smooth functions. Also, they give the constants (relatively low) of the corresponding error bounds. Several numerical examples are given.