Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / iii / Paper 318 / 4 / a

Put $m=k-1$, so the Marsden identity isDifferentiating $m-j$ times with respect to $x$ givesThe exact Taylor formula for a polynomial isSubstitution of the differentiated Marsden identities yieldswhere

Differentiating this expression for ${\lambda }_i$ produces two sums whose adjacent terms cancel. The uncancelled endpoints contain ${\psi }_i^{(k)}$ and $p^{(k)}$, both zero because the two functions have degree at most $k-1$. Thusso the Marsden dual functional ${\lambda }_i(p)$ is independent of the auxiliary point $x$.