On the uniqueness of the multirational blossom (Q6143339)

Let a \(k\)-times differentiable function \(f(t)\) on an interval \(U \subseteq \mathbb R\) be given. A multirational blossom of \(f(t)\) of order \(k \ge 0\) and degree \(-n \leq -1\) is defined as a multivariable function \(F(u_1,\ldots,u_k/v_1,\ldots,v_{n+k})\) which is continuous in all of its variables on \(U\) and satisfies four axioms: bisymmetry in the \(u\) and \(v\) parameters, multiaffine property with respect to \(u\) parameters, cancellation property, and reduction to \(f(t)\) along the diagonal. The existence of a multirational blossom was shown by \textit{R. Goldman} [Comput. Aided Geom. Des. 16, No. 8, 701--738 (1999; Zbl 0997.65021)] by providing an explicit formula for this blossom in terms of divided differences. In this paper, the authors prove that these four axioms uniquely characterize the multirational blossom. Introducing a homogeneous version of multirational blossom, they show that the \(k\)-th derivative of \(f\) can be computed by the homogeneous multirational blossom.