From e1c2f1a44d1bb30bf55090b9a3f896f4a541dd75 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Thomas Walker Lynch
+ A polynomial of degree is defined by a highest order term . The first forward difference operator, , inherently cancels the term. The binomial expansion of yields as its leading term, which subtracts out, leaving a new polynomial of exactly degree . +
+ ++ Taking successive finite differences reduces the degree of the polynomial by exactly one at each step. Consequently, the th difference evaluates to a constant, and the next difference evaluates to exactly zero. +
+ ++ Because component 0 of the initial difference vector, , holds the function value itself, and the differences occupy components 1 through , the initial vector requires a component count of , where . This defines a vector with a maximum index, or extent, of . +
+ ++ If an initial difference vector has an extent of (meaning the component is constant and all higher differences are zero), the sequence of function values can be generated by a polynomial of degree . +
+ ++ This is proven by constructing the function directly from the initial tape utilizing Newton's forward difference formula. The function value at any discrete step is given by a linear combination of the initial difference components multiplied by binomial coefficients: +
+ ++ +
+ ++ To determine the degree of this constructed function, a person must evaluate the binomial coefficient, . It expands into a polynomial in : +
+ ++ +
+ ++ Because the numerator contains factors of , the term is a polynomial of exactly degree . +
+ ++ The initial tape components, , are static scalar constants. Therefore, the summation consists of adding together polynomials of increasing degrees from up to . Because the extent is , the scalar is nonzero, ensuring that the highest degree term in the summation does not vanish. Thus, the constructed function is strictly a polynomial of degree . +
+ + + -Here is the finite difference table for the function . -- 2.20.1