Past exam of the options II course of the University of Oxford / 2011 / P / P3 / b / Solution

If $p$ is a minimizer, then for each $q\in {\Pi }_n$ the quadratichas a minimum at $t=0$, so $(u-p,q)=0$. Conversely, if this orthogonality holds, then for every $q\in {\Pi }_n$ the Pythagorean theorem in the inner product space givesThus the minimizers are exactly the orthogonal projections characterized byFor existence, write $p={\sum }_{j=0}^n{c}_j{x}^j$. The conditions form the normal equations $Gc=b$, with Gram matrix $G_{ij}=(x^i,x^j)$ and $b_i=(u,x^i)$. For every nonzero coefficient vector $v$,Indeed a nonzero polynomial is nonzero on some open interval away from $0$, where the weight is positive. Hence $G$ is a positive-definite matrix and is invertible, proving existence and uniqueness of $c$. Uniqueness also follows from the preceding Pythagorean theorem identity. The zero of the weight at one point therefore causes no degeneracy on continuous functions or polynomials.