On the uniqueness of general monosplines of least \(L_ p\)-norm (Q1075543)

The uniqueness of monosplines and perfect splines is treated in the framework of generalized monosplines and total positivity. It is known that one cannot expect uniqueness without additional assumptions [\textit{G. Nürnberger} and the first author, Numer. Funct. Anal. Optim. 4(1981), 199-209 (1982; Zbl 0489.41015)]. For the \(L_ p\)-case, \(1<p<\infty\), it is assumed that the kernel is derived from a Polya frequency function and that the generating measure is the Lebesgue measure. The uniqueness in the \(L_{\infty}\)-case is obtained without any restrictions. The analysis is based on degree theory [cf. \textit{B. D. Boyanov}, Numerische Integration, Tag. Oberwolfach 1978, ISNM 45, 67-97 (1979; Zbl 0429.41008)]. It is shown that the degree is the same for a wide class of problems. Therefore, the degree may be determined from a simple example. To deal with the Rodriguez function for the \(L_ p\)-case, a new composition rule for kernels with boundary terms is established.