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Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 B 6 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For any , expand in . Its linear term must vanish at a minimizer, givingThus the required functionals areThe form is continuous, symmetric, and coercive, with . Conversely, this weak equation implies , so its unique solution is indeed the global minimizer.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 B 5 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Testing against compactly supported smooth functions gives the distributional identity . The right side belongs to , since and is bounded. Therefore and . This also makes the endpoint derivative traces meaningful, and integrating the weak form by parts recovers the Robin conditions.
The standard piecewise linear finite element interpolation estimate iswith constants independent of . Hence for . By Céa's lemma, with the fixed continuity and coercivity constants of ,The constant depends on the continuous problem but not on mesh refinement.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 B 5 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Let be the space spanned by all hats, including the endpoint hats. The solution in a conforming finite element space satisfies for all . The continuous form remains coercive and continuous on this subspace, so the discrete solution is unique.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 B 5 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The Sobolev space consists of square-integrable functions whose weak first derivative is square-integrable, with norm . Its one-dimensional representatives have well-defined endpoint traces.
Multiplying by and integrating by parts givesThe two Robin conditions give and , so defineA weak solution is satisfying for every . The boundary conditions are natural; no endpoint derivative is imposed in the trial space.
Since on this interval,This proves coercivity on the full space. Trace continuity and Cauchy-Schwarz give continuity of the form, so the Lax-Milgram theorem also ensures a unique weak solution.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 4 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
A piecewise cubic supported on has the truncated-power representation with indices . Vanishing for imposesafter expanding its cubic exterior polynomial; powers of cancel. For , the Vandermonde matrix columns are independent, forcing every coefficient to be zero. For , coefficients proportional to satisfy these conditions because a fourth finite difference annihilates cubics.
Normalize to get the Cardinal cubic B-splineAt its five support knots its values are , so their sum is one. Thus four intervals are necessary and sufficient.
For , the five translates active in the interior of are indexed . Write . Nodal interpolation givesAt the left endpoint the first derivatives of the three active functions are , and their second derivatives are . The two remaining equations areTogether these five equations form the requested system; insert if numerical coefficients are desired. The first, fourth and fifth determine the first three coefficients, and the other two then determine , so the system is nonsingular.
The source only assumes , which need not have either endpoint derivative. The Hermite conditions require those derivatives to exist, or to be supplied as separate interpolation data. The nodal conditions alone remain meaningful for every continuous .
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 4 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The equioscillation theorem says that a best degree-at-most- polynomial approximation to a continuous real function on has ordered extreme-error points with alternating signs and equal absolute error. Conversely such alternation proves optimality. If the error is zero, the target is already a polynomial of the required degree.
For the single-point exchange in polynomial minimax approximation, start with ordered reference points and solve the linear systemfor the polynomial coefficients and . Locate a point of largest absolute error on the interval. If its magnitude is no larger than within the desired tolerance, alternation certifies the approximation.
Otherwise insert that point and delete one old reference point so that the ordered signs still alternate. If the new point lies between two reference points, delete the neighboring point with the same error sign. If it lies outside the reference range, either replace the adjacent same-sign endpoint or, for opposite sign, insert it and drop the far endpoint. Solve again and repeat. This is the one-point Remez algorithm; a global extreme-error search is required for its stopping certificate, rather than merely checking the old reference points.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 3 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The midpoint error annihilates affine functions, so here . Apply the functional to :ThusIt is nonnegative, and symmetry gives . ThereforeFor a quadratic with constant nonzero second derivative equality holds, so this midpoint quadrature rule error constant is sharp.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 3 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
If has one sign, the weighted mean-value theorem applied to the continuous derivative givesfor some . One may prove this by bounding the weighted integral between the minimum and maximum derivative values times the total weight, then using the intermediate value theorem. If the total weight is zero, the fixed-sign kernel is zero almost everywhere and the conclusion is immediate.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 3 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For a real-valued linear error functional annihilating , the Peano kernel iswhere is the argument on which the functional acts. Under the standard boundedness and extension hypotheses, the Peano kernel theorem statesFor example, a bounded functional on continuous functions, represented by a finite signed measure and extended to the truncated powers, has this representation. Quadrature error functionals have precisely this structure.
The source's bare linearity assumption on is not by itself a complete theorem hypothesis. Truncated powers need not belong to that domain, and interchange of the functional with an integral needs justification. For instance annihilates but would require a Dirac point mass rather than an ordinary integrable kernel. The statement above supplies the usual functional class needed for the requested theorem and applies directly to part (c).
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 2 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Exactness on constants and linear functions givesWith the nodes just computed, the solution isTo prove cubic exactness rather than merely moment matching, divide a polynomial of degree at most three by the monic :The weighted integral of vanishes by orthogonality, and its two nodal values vanish because the nodes are roots of . The remaining is integrated exactly by the two equations above. This proves Gaussian quadrature exactness through degree three.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 2 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For , orthogonality to requiresSolving gives , . HenceThese are the nodes for the two-node Gaussian quadrature with quadratic weight.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 2 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The displayed recurrence requires monic normalization, which is not explicitly stated in the preamble. Arbitrary independent rescaling of orthogonal polynomials preserves orthogonality but changes the recurrence coefficients. Choose their monic representatives for this and the following calculations.
Expand in the orthogonal polynomial basis:The leading coefficient of is one. For , , because the second factor has degree below . Thus only remain. Inner products giveThe last equality uses . Rearranging yields exactly the three-term recurrence for monic orthogonal polynomials
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 2 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Use the standard convention that the orthogonal polynomials are nonzero. Their exact degrees then follow from the stated assumptions by induction: is a nonzero constant, and if span , a nonzero orthogonal to all of them cannot lie in .
Let be the distinct sign-changing roots of in , and put . Then has constant sign between and across all its roots, and is not identically zero. Because in the interior, is nonzero. If , orthogonality to would make this integral zero. Thus .
A degree- polynomial cannot have more than roots counted with multiplicity, so all roots are real, simple, and strictly inside . This is the standard zeros of orthogonal polynomials argument, with the positive weight ensuring strict noncancellation.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Expand the fifth-degree Taylor polynomial in Chebyshev polynomials, using the identities for powers obtained from part (a):Delete the last two Chebyshev terms and convert back to powers. The economized cubic isSince ,Equality holds at , where both deleted terms have negative sign. Thus the economization changes the polynomial by at most , exactly in supremum norm on .
For the target itself, wherever . The logarithm is singular at , so its total uniform error on all of is infinite; the finite estimate concerns the additional polynomial change, or the increase on any smaller interval where the original error is bounded.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For , set . It is monic by part (a), and its supremum norm on is . At the successive extreme points it alternates between and .
Suppose a monic degree- polynomial had . At each , the difference would have the sign of . These signs alternate, so the intermediate value theorem forces a root in each of the successive gaps. But the leading monic terms cancel, making , a contradiction. ThereforeThis is the monic monic Chebyshev extremal polynomial. The positive-degree restriction matters: at the printed scaling gives the constant two, while the only monic constant is one, so that version is false. The customary theorem uses .
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 1 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Put . The trigonometric identitygives the Chebyshev polynomial recurrence . Starting from and , successive substitution yieldsThe recurrence also proves by induction that is a polynomial of degree , with leading coefficient for .
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2007 B 8 iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Define the mass matrix and stiffness matrix for . With coefficient vectors , the step system isThe matrices are symmetric, and for nonzero , proving positive definiteness.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2007 B 8 ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Test with and apply . The exact energy identity isThe printed identity omits the last reaction contribution while explicitly describing its last term as the seminorm. It requires the full norm instead of that seminorm. With the printed seminorm its left side equals , rather than zero. The source reaction term forces this correction.
All terms other than the difference of successive squared norms are nonnegative. ConsequentlyThe second inequality uses contractivity of the initial orthogonal projection. No restriction relates to , giving unconditional stability. The retained reaction term strengthens dissipation.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2007 B 8 i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Use and its continuous piecewise linear subspace . The condition at is natural, so the last hat function remains free. Set to the orthogonal projection of onto : the stated initial data need not have nodal values.
For each , find such thatThis applies Backward Euler method to diffusion and reaction together. The step bilinear form is coercive, so each step has a unique solution.
Past exam of the approximation theory and finite element methods course of the University of Oxford 2007 B 7 iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Two interval Poincaré inequalities give : the error has zero endpoint values and its derivative has zero mean. Apply Cauchy-Schwarz inequality on each interval and then to the sum:Here . Taking and cancelling its norm, unless it is zero already, yieldsFor adaptive refinement, solve the discrete problem, compute , and stop when . Otherwise mark intervals carrying a fixed positive fraction of , bisect them, and repeat. Residual integration must be exact or have a certified upper bound if the stopping test is to certify the requested tolerance.
Use residual adaptation with a uniform-refinement safeguard, for example global bisection every second refinement, to ensure eventual termination. Discrete energy stability gives , so independently of the mesh. Thus tends to zero under the safeguard. Other iterations concentrate work where the residual is large.
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