Fast Computation of Orthogonal Systems with a Skew-symmetric Differentiation Matrix
Orthogonal systems in L_2(R), once implemented in spectral methods, enjoy a number of important advantages if their differentiation matrix is skew-symmetric and highly structured. Such systems, where the differentiation matrix is skew-symmetric, tridiagonal and irreducible, have been recently fully characterised. In this paper we go a step further, imposing the extra requirement of fast computation: specifically, that the first N coefficients of the expansion can be computed to high accuracy in O(Nlog_2N) operations. We consider two settings, one approximating a function f directly in (-∞,∞) and the other approximating [f(x)+f(-x)]/2 and [f(x)-f(-x)]/2 separately in [0,∞). In each setting we prove that there is a single family, parametrised by α,β > -1, of orthogonal systems with a skew-symmetric, tridiagonal, irreducible differentiation matrix and whose coefficients can be computed as Jacobi polynomial coefficients of a modified function. The four special cases where α, β= ± 1/2 are of particular interest, since coefficients can be computed using fast sine and cosine transforms. Banded, Toeplitz-plus-Hankel multiplication operators are also possible for representing variable coefficients in a spectral method. In Fourier space these orthogonal systems are related to an apparently new generalisation of the Carlitz polynomials.
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