characterization of a class of functions using divided differences描述类的函数使用划分的差异.pdfVIP

CHARACTERIZATION OF A CLASS OF FUNCTIONS USING DIVIDED DIFFERENCES PLAMEN SIMEONOV Received 5 April 2000 We determine the class of functions, the divided difference of which, at n distinct numbers, is a continuous function of the product of these numbers. 1. Introduction We first introduce the needed terminology. The divided differences of a function f at distinct points are defined recursively as follows: := f x , f x 1 1 (1.1) f x2 ,...,xn − f x 1,...,xn−1 f x 1,...,xn := , n ≥ 2. xn −x 1 The following formula is well known, [2], n f xj f x 1,...,xn = , (1.2) j =1 ωn xj where {x }n ⊂ C are distinct numbers and ω (x) := n (x −x ). j j =1 n k=1 k Furthermore, if f ∈ n−1, the set of algebraic polynomials of degree at most n − 1, then, [2], f [x 1,...,xn+1] = 0. This fact can be proved by induction in n. The more general definition of divided differences allowing repeated points is that f [x ,...,x ] := a , where p (x) = n−1 a xk is the polynomial that interpolates 1 n n−1 n−1 k=0 k f at {xj }n in the Hermite sense, [2]. j =1 The main results of this paper are the following theorems. Theorem 1.1. Let n ∈ N, n ≥ 2, be fixed and f be a real-