B-spline-like bases for \(C^2\) cubics on the Powell-Sabin 12-split (Q2178664)

Bivariate piecewise polynomial approximations (splines) are essential tools for computer-aided design and for example for finite element methods in order to solve partial differential equations. The Powell-Sabin split, named after M.J.D. Powell and M. Sabin, is one of the most often used tools in theory and applications for subdividing splines on triangles into piecewise polynomials of lower smoothness on smaller triangles. The 6-split PS6 and the more refined 12-split PS 12 are available. In this article, twice-differentiable piecewise cubics are consided on PS12. We seek bases for the spline spaces thus defined. Usually, the B-splines in one or higher dimensions are the most useful tools for this, but in this paper a variant of this, the so-called S-splines, are considered. They are simplex splines on these PS12 splits. The authors give definition of the splines and the very useful recursions and derivative formulae. In fact, the usefulness of B-splines relies on their properties such as being computable in recurrence relations, and this is just what this article provides for the new S-splines. They show that the S-bases (sets of S-splines that obey certain conditions, such as the existence of Marsden identities) provide stable recursion formulae and differentiation rules. They also provide quasi-interpolants, a most successful tool in approximation theory where the approximands are described in linear combinations of decaying so-called quasi-Lagrange functions that do not necessarily obey Lagrange conditions but satisfy usually certain decay and polynomial precision properties. In some cases, the S-splines have also local linear independence