Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-approximation-theory-and-finite-element-methods-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2007/a/1/b/solution

The vector subspace contains zero, whose approximation error is . For any with , the triangle inequality gives , so such points cannot improve on zero.
Restrict to . This is nonempty, closed and bounded in a finite-dimensional normed space, hence compact. The continuous function attains a minimum on by part (a). Outside its value exceeds the error at zero, so that minimizer is best on all of :
Completeness of the ambient space is unnecessary; compactness is used only in the finite-dimensional vector subspace.

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