In approximation theory, Jackson's inequality is an inequality bounding the value of function's best approximation by algebraic or trigonometric polynomials in terms of the modulus of continuity of its derivatives.[1][2] Informally speaking, the smoother the function is, the better it can be approximated by polynomials.
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For trigonometric polynomials, the following was proved by Dunham Jackson:
Theorem 1: If ƒ: [0, 2π] → C is an r times differentiable periodic function such that
then, for every natural n, there exists a trigonometric polynomial Pn−1 of degree at most n − 1 such that
where C(r) depends only on r.
The Akhiezer–Krein–Favard theorem gives the sharp value of C(r) (called the Akhiezer–Krein–Favard constant):
Jackson also proved the following generalisation of Theorem 1:
Theorem 2: Denote by ω(δ, ƒ(r)) the modulus of continuity of the rth derivative of ƒ. Then one can find Pn−1 such that
Generalisations and extensions are called Jackson-type theorems. A converse to Jackson's inequality is given by Bernstein's theorem. See also constructive function theory.