There are no numerical continuity bounds determined by and alone: the subdivision mask coefficients matter. First check constant reproduction, for every residue , and convergence. For the usual stationary scalar scheme, two useful calculations are a uniform contraction test and a spectral obstruction test. Higher smoothness is tested with derived difference subdivision masks.
Write and . Using backward differences , the generating-function identity
proves the subdivision difference scheme relation . Iterating gives . To test a candidate limit, suppose the requisite sum rules hold, so is a finite Laurent polynomial. The scaled derivative controls are refined by the subdivision mask
whose residue sums are one. Their first differences are refined by
The powers of are essential because each refinement shrinks parameter intervals by .
A lower continuity bound comes from proving uniform contraction. The infinity norm of one difference-refinement step is bounded by
If , adjacent derivative controls contract geometrically at every location. More generally, form the -step subdivision mask
and test . This proves convergence of the constant-preserving derivative scheme to a continuous limit. One justification is to compare consecutive piecewise-linear interpolants: their difference is bounded by a constant times the maximum adjacent-control difference, and the geometrically decreasing bound is summable. To identify the limit as , use fixed-degree Cardinal B-spline interpolants of the original refined controls. Their th derivatives are sums of the scaled finite differences; convergence of both functions and derivatives gives . Testing successive supplies a guaranteed lower bound.
An upper continuity bound comes from an observable noncontracting shape mode. Build finite local subdivision matrices for on a refinement-invariant control neighborhood. For a digit their entries are , since the new index is . Restrict to the realizable difference space and discard modes that do not affect the limit. A word corresponds to a nested parameter location. If its product has an observable eigenvalue with , repetition of this word makes some scaled derivative differences grow rather than tend to zero. For a stable limit representation, regularity would force these differences to vanish; hence general-position data cannot have continuity. A modulus-one mode requires examination of whether it actually persists, rather than an automatic rounding rule.
The two calculations can be organized through the joint spectral radius of these restricted matrices:
These norm and spectral bounds for subdivision regularity make the test computable from the subdivision mask. The right bound certifies all-word contraction when it is less than one; the left bound detects a repeated-word obstruction when it exceeds one. Longer products improve the tests. A single matrix's spectrum is not a substitute for controlling arbitrary products. The product estimates also appear in Charina's analysis of subdivision regularity; the strict contraction and observable-mode arguments above explain their respective roles.