A review of branched continued fraction theory for the construction of multivariate rational approximants (Q1102699)

Let \(b_ 0+\frac{a_ 1}{b_ 1+}\frac{a_ 2}{b_ 2+}..\). be a given continued fraction (CF). If we substitute each partial denominator \(b_ j\) by another CF \(b_{0j}\frac{a_{1i}}{b_{1i}+}\frac{a_{2i}}{b_{2i}+}..\). we obtain a CF of the form \[ b_{00}+\frac{a_{10}}{b_{10}+}...+\frac{a_ 1}{b_{0i}+\frac{a_{1i}}{b_{1i}}...}\frac{a_ 2}{b_{02}+...}... \] Repeating the procedure (\(\ell -1)\) times we obtain a CF which is called \(\ell\)-branched continued fraction (BCF). In this paper the use of BCF to represent the solution of some interesting problems of multivariate approximation and interpolation is described.