Three-convex approximation by free knot splines in \(C[0,1]\) (Q1384654)

Let \(\pi(r-1)\) be the set of all algebraic polynomials of degree \(\leq r-1\) and let \(\pi(r,n,[a,b])\) be the set of all piecewise polynomial functions of degree \(r-1\) with \(n-1\) free knots in \((a,b)\). Denote by \(S(r,n,[a,b])\) the space of all splines of order \(r\) on \([a,b]\) with \(n-1\) free knots: \(\{g\in\pi (r,n,[a,b]): g\in C^{r-2}[a,b]\}\). Let \(S_n^r(f; C[a,b])\) be the best approximation of \(f\in C[a,b]\) in the uniform metric by means of the elements of \(S(r,n,[a,b])\). A function \(f\in C[a,b]\) is said to be \(k\)-convex if its \(k\)th divided differences \([x_0,\dots, x_k;f]\) are nonnegative for all choices of points \(a\leq x_0<\dots <x_k\leq b\). The basic result of this paper is the following theorem. Let \(f\in C[0,1]\) be 3-convex. Then, for each \(r\geq 3\) and \(n\geq 1\), there exists a 3-convex spline \(s_3\in S(r,D_0r^2n, [0,1])\) such that \(\| f-s_3 \|_{C[0,1]}\leq D_1S_n^r (f;C[0,1])\) where \(D_0,D_1\) denote positive absolute constants.