MA 214, Spring 2021 IIT Bombay

Introduction to Numerical Analysis

Problem Set 2

1. Show that there is no non-trivial polynomial p such that

x p(x − 1) = (x + 1) p(x).

2. Recall that the maximum norm of a function f : [−π, π] → R is defined by

kf k := max |f (x)|.
x∈[−π,π]

Let us define the following three nonnegative numbers:

d1 := k cos(x) − sin(x)k; d2 := k cos2 (x) − sin2 (x)k; d3 := k cos3 (x) − sin3 (x)k,

with the understanding that the maximum norms are computed on the interval [−π, π].
Which of the following is true?

(a) d1 < d2 < d3

(b) d1 > d2 > d3
(c) d1 > d2 = d3
(d) d1 = d2 = d3

Justify your answer.

3. Consider a polynomial p of degree n given below:

p(x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn .

Here we describe three different methods to compute the value of p at a point x.

I Each term ak xk is computed independently of the remaining terms in the polynomial

and then added together to evaluate the polynomial
II Compute the terms xk recursively, i.e. xk = xxk−1 for k = 2, . . . , n and then use
them to compute the polynomial
III Rewrite the above given polynomial as

p(x) = a0 + x (a1 + x (a2 + x (a3 + · · · + x (an−1 + an x) . . . )))

This is referred to as nested multiplication.

Count the number of addition and multiplication operations in each of the above
three methods I, II and III.

Page 1 of 3
MA 214, Spring 2021 IIT Bombay

4. Given a collection of (n + 1) data points:

(x0 , f0 ), (x1 , f1 ), . . . , (xn , fn ),
we could go about building an associated quadratic spline on [x0 , xn ] as follows:
• Take a piecewise quadratic polynomial on the interval [x0 , xn ] as follows
(1) (1) (1)
a0 + a1 x + a2 x 2 on [x0 , x1 ]
(2) (2) (2)
a0 + a1 x + a2 x 2 on [x1 , x2 ]
..
.
(n) (n) (n)
a0 + a1 x + a2 x 2 on [xn−1 , xn ]
(1) (1) (1) (2) (2) (n) (n) (n)
Note that we have to determine 3n coefficients a0 , a1 , a2 , a0 , a1 , . . . , a0 , a1 , a2
• We are looking to write 3n equations for these unknown coefficients:
– Equations at the endpoints x0 and xn (2 equations)
(1) (1) (1) (n) (n) (n)
a0 + a1 x0 + a2 x20 = f0 ; a0 + a1 xn + a2 x2n = fn
– Equations at the interior points xi with i = 1, . . . , n−1 (i.e. 2(n−1) equations)
(i) (i) (i) (i+1) (i+1) (i+1) 2
a0 + a1 xi + a2 x2i = fi ; a0 + a1 x i + a2 xi = fi
– Continuity of first order derivatives at interior points xi (i.e. (n − 1) equations)
(i) (i) (i+1) (i+1)
a1 + 2 a2 x i = a1 + 2 a2 xi
• We have a total of 3n − 1 equations.
• Take one additional equation as
(n)
a2 = 0
i.e. we are essentially taking the polynomial piece on [xn−1 , xn ] to be linear.
Consider the following data points

xi −1 0 1 2
fi 1 0 1 8

Using the above described recipe, build a quadratic spline corresponding to the above
data points on the interval [−1, 2]. You are expected to determine the matrix A and the
right hand side b in the following linear system of equations:
Ax = b
where  >
(1) (1) (1) (2) (2) (2) (3) (3)
x = a0 , a1 , a2 , a0 , a1 , a2 , a0 , a1 .
Note that you are not expected to solve for x at this time.

Page 2 of 3
MA 214, Spring 2021 IIT Bombay

5. Consider a real-valued continuous function f on the closed interval [0, 1]. Suppose further
that, given any ε > 0, there exists a δ > 0 (depending on ε) such that
ε
|f (x) − f (y)| < whenever |x − y| < δ.
2
Take n ≥ 1. Define a family of polynomials on the interval [0, 1] as follows:
 
n k
Bn,k (x) := x (1 − x)n−k for k = 0, 1, . . . , n
k
where nk is the binomial coefficient


 
n n!
= .
k (n − k)! k!
(5a) Is it true that Bn,k (x) ≥ 0 for all x ∈ [0, 1] and for all n ≥ 1, k = 0, 1 . . . , n?
(5b) Show that
Xn
Bn,k (x) = 1 for all x ∈ [0, 1].
k=0
You may use the Binomial formula:
n  
n
X n
(a + b) = an−k bk .
k=0
k

(5c) Show that

n
X k
Bn,k (x) = x for all x ∈ [0, 1].
k=0
n
(5d) Show that
n  2
X k x(1 − x)
−x Bn,k (x) = for all x ∈ [0, 1].
k=0
n n

(5e) Define the polynomial sequence

n  
X k
Bn (f )(x) := f Bn,k (x).
k=0
n
Show that, for any ε > 0, there exists a number N such that for all n > N , we have
kBn (f ) − f k < ε
where k · k denotes the maximum norm on [0, 1].
6. Let p be a polynomial of degree n given below
p(x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an−1 xn−1 + xn
where a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an−1 are all integers. Let α 6= β 6= γ 6= δ be four integers such that
p(α) = p(β) = p(δ) = p(γ) = 7.
Can there be an integer s such that p(s) = 10? Justify your answer.

Page 3 of 3