Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / iii / Paper 75 / 3 / Solution

For a real continuous function on $[-1,1]$, the Chebyshev alternation theorem gives a unique best uniform approximation $p_n^{\ast }$ from the space of polynomials of degree at most $n$. If $f$ is not already in that space, a candidate $p$ is best if and only if there exist ordered points $x_0<\cdots <x_{n+1}$ and a sign $\sigma \in \{1,-1\}$ withThus a nonzero best error has at least $n+2$ alternating extrema of equal magnitude. If $f$ is already a polynomial of degree at most $n$, the unique best approximant is $f$ itself with zero error.

Existence does not require assuming that the infimum is attained: a minimizing sequence has uniformly bounded polynomial norms, and evaluation at $n+1$ fixed distinct nodes bounds its coefficients through an invertible interpolation matrix. A convergent coefficient subsequence then attains the infimum. The alternation criterion characterizes that minimum and gives uniqueness. In the following parts, $n\ge 1$ whenever $E_{n-1}$ occurs.