A relation between Gram and Wronsky determinants (Q1073287)

Given a system \(\{\phi_ 1,\phi_ 2,...,\phi_ n\}\) of sufficiently smooth functions in \(L^ 2(0,T)\), denote the Gram and Wronsky determinants of the system by G(T) and W(T), respectively, and the order of the zero of \(\phi_ j\) at \(t=0\) by \(q_ j\), \(j=1,2,...,n\) \((q_ j=0\) if \(\phi_ j(0)\neq 0).\) The paper contains the following results: (i) the order p of the zeros of G(T) at \(T=0\) is determined; (ii) it is shown that \(G^{(p)}(0)=K| W^{(q)}(0)|^ 2\) where \(q=(p-n^ 2)/2\) and \(K=K(q_ 1,q_ 2,...,q_ n)\) is a constant (the superscript refers to derivatives); (iii) it is pointed out that \(W(T)\sim cW_ 0(T)\) as \(T\to 0\) where c is a constant and \(W_ 0(T)\) is the Wronsky determinant pertaining to the system \(\{t^{q_ 1},t^{q_ 2},...,t^{q_ n}\}\). An explicit expression for \(W_ 0(T)\) is also given. The results are applied to derive an asymptotic formula for the distance d(T) of a smooth function in \(L^ 2(0,T)\) from the span of \(\phi_ 1,\phi_ 2,...,\phi_ n\) as \(T\to 0\).