Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/ii/paper-3/2f/iii/solution

Put . For every polynomial of degree at most , has degree at most and vanishes at all nodes; thus . The monic degree- orthogonal polynomial for this integral is unique: the difference of two such monic polynomials has degree below and is orthogonal to itself, hence is zero. Consequently is the monic normalization of the degree- Legendre polynomial, proving the given nodes are exactly its roots. Together the three results characterize this Gaussian quadrature rule.

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