Let
be an
th
degree polynomial with zeros at
, ...,
. Then the fundamental Hermite interpolating polynomials
of the first and second kinds are defined by
(1)
|
and
(2)
|
for ,
2, ...
,
where the fundamental polynomials of Lagrange interpolation are defined by
(3)
|
They are denoted and
, respectively, by Szegö (1975, p. 330).
These polynomials have the properties
(4)
| |||
(5)
| |||
(6)
| |||
(7)
|
for ,
2, ...,
. Now let
, ...,
and
, ...,
be values. Then the expansion
(8)
|
gives the unique Hermite interpolating fundamental polynomial for which
(9)
| |||
(10)
|
If ,
these are called Hermite's interpolating polynomials.
The fundamental polynomials satisfy
(11)
|
and
(12)
|
Also, if is an arbitrary distribution on the interval
,
then
(13)
| |||
(14)
| |||
(15)
| |||
(16)
| |||
(17)
| |||
(18)
|
where
are Christoffel numbers.