Totally positive bases for shape preserving curve design and optimality of \(B\)-splines (Q1344278)

The totally positive (TP) bases present good shape preserving properties due to the variation diminishing properties of the totally positive matrices. In this paper the authors construct and characterize the normalized totally positive (NTP) bases with optimal shape preserving properties for any finite-dimensional vector space which has a TP basis. They call it \(B\)-basis. As an example, it is proved that the \(B\)-spline basis is the NTP basis with optimal shape preserving properties in the space of polynomial splines. Other examples of \(B\)-bases are the Bernstein basis, the basis of \(\beta\)-splines, and the basis used for generating nonuniform rational \(B\)-spline curves.