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An introduction to INTERPOLATION

Suppose (xi, yi) i= 0, 1, 2, 3, 4….n be the set of (n+1) given data points of
the function
Y=f(x). The process of finding the value of y corresponding to any value of
x = xi, between x0 and xn is called interpolation. Thus interpolation is the
technique of estimating the value of a function for any intermediate value of
the independent variable whereas the process of computing the value of the
function outside the given range is called extrapolation. If the function f(x)
is known explicitly, then the value of y corresponding to any value of x can
easily be found. If x0……. xn are given along with corresponding values
y0…..yn (see the figure), interpolation may be regarded as a determination of
a function y=f(x) whose graph passes through the (n+1) points (xi, yi) i= 0, 1,
2, 3, 4….n.

Conversely, if the form of f(x) is not known (as is the case in most
applications) it is very difficult to determine the exact form of f(x) with the
help of tabulated values (xi, yi). In such cases, it is required to find a simpler
function, say φ(x), such that f(x) and φ(x) agree at the set of tabulated points.
The function φ(x) is a called interpolating or smoothing function and any
other value may be calculated from φ(x). If x is polynomial, then the process
is called polynomial interpolation and φ(x) is called the interpolating
polynomial. Similarly, different types of interpolation arise depending on
whether φ(x) is a finite trigonometric series, series of Bessel functions, etc.
If there is a function y=f(x) which is continuous in a≤x≤b then we can
approximate it by a polynomial, pn(x), of degree n(€) such that ‌
‫׀‬f(x)-p
‌ n(x)‫ ׀‬€, a≤x≤b. Thus, we can, in principle, fit a ‘good’ polynomial to a

set of data.
In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method
of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete sets of known
data points.
In engineering and science one often has a number of data points, as
obtained by sampling or experimentation, and tries to construct a function
which closely fits those data points. This is called curve fitting or regression
analysis. Interpolation is a specific case of curve fitting, in which the
function must go exactly through the data points. The ultimate goal might be
to determine the values at intermediate points, to approximate the integral or
derivative of underlying function or to simply give a smooth or continuous
representation of the variables in the problem.

Interpolation refers to determining the function that exactly represents the


collection of data. The most elementary type of interpolation consists of
fitting a polynomial to a collection of data points. Polynomials have
derivatives and integral that is themselves polynomials so they are natural
choice of approximating derivatives and integrals. A good interpolation
polynomial needs to provide a relatively accurate approximation over an
entire interval.
A different problem which is closely related to interpolation is the
approximation of a complicated function by a simple function. Suppose we
know the function but it is too complex to evaluate efficiently. Then we
could pick a few known data points from the complicated function, creating
a lookup table, and try to interpolate those data points to construct a simpler
function. Of course, when using the simple function to calculate new data
points we usually do not receive the same result as when using the original
function, but depending on the problem domain and the interpolation
method used the gain in simplicity might offset the error.

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