Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ib/paper-2/14b/b/solution

The error is linear and annihilates all degree-at-most-two polynomials. The Peano kernel theorem with derivative order three gives
For , the second derivative of the truncated quadratic at is . Its values at then give
The value at the single point is irrelevant to the integral. This is the centered second-derivative Peano kernel. Its absolute integral is
Consequently
Its changing sign explains why cubic polynomials also have zero error: their third derivative is constant and . No fourth derivative is needed for the claimed bound.

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