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OP-00333 Open

Bos's cubic and quartic simplex interpolation nodes

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Let $S_d \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be a nondegenerate simplex, with points written in barycentric coordinates. In the lists below, each type of node stands for all distinct permutations of its coordinates, padded with zeros to $d + 1$ coordinates, and a type with more than $d + 1$ coordinates is omitted. The cubic set $F_{3,d}$ consists of the types $$(1), \qquad (t, 1 - t), \qquad (\tfrac13, \tfrac13, \tfrac13), \qquad t = \frac{1 + 1/\sqrt{5}}{2},$$ and the quartic set $F_{4,d}$ of the types $$(1), \qquad (\tfrac12, \tfrac12), \qquad (s, 1 - s), \qquad (a, b, b), \qquad (\tfrac14, \tfrac14, \tfrac14, \tfrac14),$$ where $s = \bigl(1 + \sqrt{3/7}\bigr)/2$, $a = (4 + \sqrt{5})/11$ and $b = (7 - \sqrt{5})/22$. For $k = 3, 4$, $F_{k,d}$ is unisolvent for the real polynomials of total degree at most $k$ on $\mathbb{R}^d$, a space of dimension $N_{k,d} = \binom{d+k}{k}$; let $\ell_x^{(k,d)}$, $x \in F_{k,d}$, be its Lagrange polynomials. A unisolvent set is a Fejér set if the sum of the squares of its Lagrange polynomials is at most $1$ on $S_d$, and a Fekete set if it maximizes the absolute value of the Vandermonde determinant (in any fixed basis) among all configurations of the same number of points in $S_d$. Bos showed that a Fejér set is a Fekete set (via the Kiefer–Wolfowitz equivalence theorem), and noted that the Lagrange polynomials of a Fekete set are bounded by $1$ in absolute value on $S_d$. He proved by computer algebra that $F_{3,d}$ is a Fejér set for $1 \le d \le 28$. $F_{4,2}$ is a Fejér set (Bos, 1983), while for $d = 4$ the sum of squares of the Lagrange polynomials of $F_{4,4}$ exceeds $1$ at the centroid of $S_4$; for $3 \le d \le 7$ all Lagrange polynomials of $F_{4,d}$ are bounded by $1$ in absolute value on $S_d$.

Problem. Is each of the following true? (1) For every $d \ge 1$ and $z \in S_d$, $\sum_{x \in F_{3,d}} |\ell_x^{(3,d)}(z)|^2 \le 1$. (2) For every $z \in S_3$, $\sum_{x \in F_{4,3}} |\ell_x^{(4,3)}(z)|^2 \le 1$. (3) For every $d \ge 1$, $F_{4,d}$ maximizes the absolute value of the Vandermonde determinant among all configurations of $N_{4,d}$ points in $S_d$. (4) For every $d \ge 1$ and $z \in S_d$, $\sum_{x \in F_{4,d}} |\ell_x^{(4,d)}(z)|^4 \le 1$.

Source: Bos (2023): the conjecture before Proposition 3.1 (cubic nodes, every dimension) and Conjectures 4.2, 4.3 and 4.6 (quartic nodes); the node sets are Bos's (1983). Grouped into one problem by AIM — Open Applied Problems.

Imported from github.com/MColbrook/AIM.

Classification

Primary
NA — Numerical Analysis
Secondary
CA
Keywords
AIM Open Applied Problems, Fekete points, Lagrange interpolation, optimal designs

References

@article{bos2023,
  author        = {Bos, Len},
  title         = {On {F}ekete points for a real simplex},
  journal       = {Indag. Math. (N.S.)},
  volume        = {34},
  number        = {2},
  year          = {2023},
  pages         = {274--293},
  doi           = {10.1016/j.indag.2022.11.003},
  eprint        = {2205.06498},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
}
@article{bos1983,
  author  = {Bos, L. P.},
  title   = {Bounding the {L}ebesgue function for {L}agrange interpolation in a simplex},
  journal = {J. Approx. Theory},
  volume  = {38},
  number  = {1},
  year    = {1983},
  pages   = {43--59},
  doi     = {10.1016/0021-9045(83)90140-5},
}
@misc{aim-bos-simplex-interpolation-nodes,
  author       = {Brunton, Steve and Colbrook, Matthew J. and de Hoop, Maarten V. and Stepaniants, George and Townsend, Alex and Ward, Rachel},
  title        = {{Bos's cubic and quartic simplex interpolation nodes}},
  howpublished = {AIM --- Open Applied Problems, GitHub repository},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://github.com/MColbrook/AIM/blob/a153f469ee0ea64e876b2ad97c79d252c19a3e22/problems/641-bos-simplex-interpolation-nodes.md},
  note         = {Entry 641 at commit a153f46, 2026-10-13},
}

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OP-00333, "Bos's cubic and quartic simplex interpolation nodes", clopen.solutions.