An essay on some problems of approximation theory

A. G. Ramm

Published 2003-01-31Version 1

Several questions of approximation theory are discussed: 1) can one approximate stably in $L^\infty$ norm $f^\prime$ given approximation $f_\delta, \parallel f_\delta - f \parallel_{L^\infty} < \delta$, of an unknown smooth function $f(x)$, such that $\parallel f^\prime (x) \parallel_{L^\infty} \leq m_1$? 2) can one approximate an arbitrary $f \in L^2(D), D \subset \R^n, n \geq 3$, is a bounded domain, by linear combinations of the products $u_1 u_2$, where $u_m \in N(L_m), m=1,2,$ $L_m$ is a formal linear partial differential operator and $N(L_m)$ is the null-space of $L_m$ in $D$, $3) can one approximate an arbitrary $L^2(D)$ function by an entire function of exponential type whose Fourier transform has support in an arbitrary small open set? Is there an analytic formula for such an approximation? N(L_m) := \{w: L_m w=0 \hbox{in\} D\}$?