Approximation Theory, Wavelets and Applications draws together the latest developments in the subject, provides directions for future research, and paves the way for collaborative research. The main topics covered include constructive multivariate approximation, theory of splines, spline wavelets, polynomial and trigonometric wavelets, interpolation theory, polynomial and rational approximation. Among the scientific applications were de-noising using wavelets, including the de-noising of speech and images, and signal and digital image processing. In the area of the approximation of functions the main topics include multivariate interpolation, quasi-interpolation, polynomial approximation with weights, knot removal for scattered data, convergence theorems in Padé theory, Lyapunov theory in approximation, Neville elimination as applied to shape preserving presentation of curves, interpolating positive linear operators, interpolation from a convex subset of Hilbert space, and interpolation on the triangle and simplex. Wavelet theory is growing extremely rapidly and has applications which will interest readers in the physical, medical, engineering and social sciences.

The mathematical theory of ondelettes (wavelets) was developed by Yves Meyer and many collaborators about 10 years ago. It was designed for ap proximation of possibly irregular functions and surfaces and was successfully applied in data compression, turbulence analysis, image and signal process ing. Five years ago wavelet theory progressively appeared to be a power ful framework for nonparametric statistical problems. Efficient computa tional implementations are beginning to surface in this second lustrum of the nineties. This book brings together these three main streams of wavelet theory. It presents the theory, discusses approximations and gives a variety of statistical applications. It is the aim of this text to introduce the novice in this field into the various aspects of wavelets. Wavelets require a highly interactive computing interface. We present therefore all applications with software code from an interactive statistical computing environment. Readers interested in theory and construction of wavelets will find here in a condensed form results that are somewhat scattered around in the research literature. A practioner will be able to use wavelets via the available software code. We hope therefore to address both theory and practice with this book and thus help to construct bridges between the different groups of scientists. This te. xt grew out of a French-German cooperation (Seminaire Paris Berlin, Seminar Berlin-Paris). This seminar brings together theoretical and applied statisticians from Berlin and Paris. This work originates in the first of these seminars organized in Garchy, Burgundy in 1994.

This concisely written book gives an elementary introduction to a classical area of mathematics – approximation theory – in a way that naturally leads to the modern field of wavelets. The exposition, driven by ideas rather than technical details and proofs, demonstrates the dynamic nature of mathematics and the influence of classical disciplines on many areas of modern mathematics and applications. Featuring classical, illustrative examples and constructions, exercises, and a discussion of the role of wavelets to areas such as digital signal processing and data compression, the book is one of the few to describe wavelets in words rather than mathematical symbols.

This is the collection of the refereed and edited papers presented at the 8th Texas International Conference on Approximation Theory. It is interdisciplinary in nature and consists of two volumes. The central theme of Vol. I is the core of approximation theory. It includes such important areas as qualitative approximations, interpolation theory, rational approximations, radial-basis functions, and splines. The second volume focuses on topics related to wavelet analysis, including multiresolution and multi-level approximation, subdivision schemes in CAGD, and applications.

This textbook is designed for graduate students in mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science. Its purpose is to guide the reader in exploring contemporary approximation theory. The emphasis is on multi-variable approximation theory, i.e., the approximation of functions in several variables, as opposed to the classical theory of functions in one variable. Most of the topics in the book, heretofore accessible only through research papers, are treated here from the basics to the currently active research, often motivated by practical problems arising in diverse applications such as science, engineering, geophysics, and business and economics. Among these topics are projections, interpolation paradigms, positive definite functions, interpolation theorems of Schoenberg and Micchelli, tomography, artificial neural networks, wavelets, thin-plate splines, box splines, ridge functions, and convolutions. An important and valuable feature of the book is the bibliography of almost 600 items directing the reader to important books and research papers. There are 438 problems and exercises scattered through the book allowing the student reader to get a better understanding of the subject.

Marking a distinct departure from the perspectives of frame theory and discrete transforms, this book provides a comprehensive mathematical and algorithmic introduction to wavelet theory. As such, it can be used as either a textbook or reference guide. As a textbook for graduate mathematics students and beginning researchers, it offers detailed information on the basic theory of framelets and wavelets, complemented by self-contained elementary proofs, illustrative examples/figures, and supplementary exercises. Further, as an advanced reference guide for experienced researchers and practitioners in mathematics, physics, and engineering, the book addresses in detail a wide range of basic and advanced topics (such as multiwavelets/multiframelets in Sobolev spaces and directional framelets) in wavelet theory, together with systematic mathematical analysis, concrete algorithms, and recent developments in and applications of framelets and wavelets. Lastly, the book can also be used to teach on or study selected special topics in approximation theory, Fourier analysis, applied harmonic analysis, functional analysis, and wavelet-based signal/image processing.

The continuous wavelet transform has deep mathematical roots in the work of Alberto P. Calderon. His seminal paper on complex method of interpolation and intermediate spaces provided the main tool for describing function spaces and their approximation properties. The Calderon identities allow one to give integral representations of many natural operators by using simple pieces of such operators, which are more suited for analysis. These pieces, which are essentially spectral projections, can be chosen in clever ways and have proved to be of tremendous utility in various problems of numerical analysis, multidimensional signal processing, video data compression, and reconstruction of high resolution images and high quality speech. A proliferation of research papers and a couple of books, written in English (there is an earlier book written in French), have emerged on the subject. These books, so far, are written by specialists for specialists, with a heavy mathematical flavor, which is characteristic of the Calderon-Zygmund theory and related research of Duffin-Schaeffer, Daubechies, Grossman, Meyer, Morlet, Chui, and others. Randy Young's monograph is geared more towards practitioners and even non-specialists, who want and, probably, should be cognizant of the exciting proven as well as potential benefits which have either already emerged or are likely to emerge from wavelet theory.