Weierstrass's theorem in weighted Sobolev spaces with \(k\) derivatives (Q2478067)

The well known Weierstrass Theorem states that each function continuous on a bounded closed interval \(I\) can be approximated by polynomials in the \(L^{\infty}(I)\) norm. If \(w\) is a \textit{weight}, that is, a non--negative measurable function on \(I\), and if \(f\) is a measurable function on \(I\), define \[ \|f\|_{L^{\infty}(w)} = \text{ess} \sup_{x \in I}{|f(x)| w(x)} \] (interpret \(0 \cdot \infty = 0\)). The authors [J. Approximation Theory 127, No. 1, 83--107 (2004; Zbl 1045.41005)] have investigated the problem of approximation of continuous functions using the norm \(\|\cdot\|_{L^{\infty}(w)}\) for a variety of suitable weights. In the current work, the authors consider \textit{vectorial weights} of the form \(w = (w_{0}, w_{1}, w_{2}, \cdot\cdot\cdot, w_{k})\), and, for a function \(f\) let \[ \|f\|_{W^{k, \infty}(w)} = \sum_{j=0}^{k} \;\|f^{(j)}\|_{L^{\infty}(w_{j})} \;. \] Here, \(W^{k, \infty}(w)\) denotes the Sobolev space of all functions \(f \in C^{\infty}\) for which \(\|f\|_{W^{k, \infty}(w)} < \infty\). The main results are that, with some reasonable restrictions on \(w\), a function \(f\) belongs to the closure of the space of polynomials in the \(W^{k, \infty}(w)\) norm if and only if \(f^{(j)}\) belongs to the closure of smooth functions in the \(L^{\infty}(w_{j})\) norm for each \(j, \;0 \leq j \leq k\). Several other results are obtained, dealing with some combinations of functions and weights.