On the number of sign changes of a real function (Q798791)

A lower bound for the number of sign changes of a real function with not necessarily nonnegative support is derived which depends on the sequence of moments of the function. Several special cases which include results of Pólya-Szegö are discussed. One special application is a lower bound for the number of sign changes of kernel functions (employed in nonparametric curve estimation) satisfying certain moment conditions which has also been obtained by Mammitzsch using different methods. The proof is based on a relation between iterated integrals and moments of real functions.