Mauro Sebastián Innocente

PhD, MSc, MEng, FHEA

Autonomous Vehicles &

Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AVAILab)
Mauro.S.Innocente@gmail.com
https://msinnocente.com/
https://availab.org/

AVAILab
Autonomous Vehicles &
Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory
• Introduction to Polynomial Interpolation
• Lagrange Polynomials

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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• Introduction to Polynomial Interpolation
• Lagrange Polynomials

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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𝑔 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑦𝑖 , 𝑖 = 0,1, . . . , 𝑛

𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 𝑥 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 𝑥 2 +. . . +𝑎𝑛 ⋅ 𝑥 𝑛

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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• Example
Given the pairs shown in the table, obtain the polynomial of lowest degree
that interpolates all points exactly.
xi yi
0 5
1 3
2 5
3 23

• Such a polynomial is given by the following expression:

𝑔(𝑥) = 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 𝑥 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 𝑥 2 + 𝑎3 ⋅ 𝑥 3

• Since g(xi) = yi, we have four coefficients and four data points
resulting in the following system of equations:
𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 0 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 02 + 𝑎3 ⋅ 03 =5
𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 1 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 12 + 𝑎3 ⋅ 13 =3
𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 2 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 22 + 𝑎3 ⋅ 23 =5
𝑎0 + 𝑎1 ⋅ 3 + 𝑎2 ⋅ 32 + 𝑎3 ⋅ 33 = 23
Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente
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• Operating:

𝑎0 + 0 ⋅ 𝑎1 + 0 ⋅ 𝑎2 + 0 ⋅ 𝑎3 = 5
𝑎0 + 1 ⋅ 𝑎1 + 1 ⋅ 𝑎2 + 1 ⋅ 𝑎3 = 3
𝑎0 + 2 ⋅ 𝑎1 + 4 ⋅ 𝑎2 + 8 ⋅ 𝑎3 = 5
𝑎0 + 3 ⋅ 𝑎1 + 9 ⋅ 𝑎2 + 27 ⋅ 𝑎3 = 23

• In matrix form:
𝐀⋅𝐱=𝐛

1 0 0 0 5 𝑎0
1 1 1 1 3 𝑎1
𝐀= ; 𝐛= ; 𝐱= 𝑎2
1 2 4 8 5
1 3 9 27 23 𝑎3

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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• Solving the system,
x y
𝑎0 = 5 0 5
𝑎1 = 0 1 3
𝐱= 2 5
𝑎2 = −4
𝑎3 = 2 3 23

• And therefore the polynomial function that

interpolates the four data points exactly is given by:

𝑔 𝑥 = 2 ⋅ 𝑥3 − 4 ⋅ 𝑥2 + 5

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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• Introduction to Polynomial Interpolation
• Lagrange Polynomials

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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 𝑛

𝐿 𝑥 = ෍ 𝑦𝑖 ⋅ 𝑙𝑖 𝑥
𝑖=0
𝑥 − 𝑥𝑚 𝑥 − 𝑥0 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑖−1 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑖+1 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑛
𝑙𝑖 𝑥 = ෑ = ... ⋅ ... , 𝑖 = 0, . . . , 𝑛
𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥𝑚 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥0 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥𝑖−1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥𝑖+1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥𝑛
0≤𝑚≤𝑛
𝑚≠𝑖
1 when 𝑖 = 𝑗
𝑙𝑖 𝑥𝑗 = ቊ
0 when 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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xi yi
𝑥 − 𝑥1 𝑥 − 𝑥2 𝑥 − 𝑥3 𝑥−1 ⋅ 𝑥−2 ⋅ 𝑥−3
𝑙0 (𝑥) = ⋅ ⋅ =−
0 5 𝑥0 − 𝑥1 𝑥0 − 𝑥2 𝑥0 − 𝑥3 6
1 3
2 5 𝑥 − 𝑥0 𝑥 − 𝑥2 𝑥 − 𝑥3 𝑥⋅ 𝑥−2 ⋅ 𝑥−3
3 23 𝑙1 (𝑥) = ⋅ ⋅ =
𝑥1 − 𝑥0 𝑥1 − 𝑥2 𝑥1 − 𝑥3 2

𝑥 − 𝑥0 𝑥 − 𝑥1 𝑥 − 𝑥3 𝑥⋅ 𝑥−1 ⋅ 𝑥−3
𝑙2 (𝑥) = ⋅ ⋅ =−
𝑥2 − 𝑥0 𝑥2 − 𝑥1 𝑥2 − 𝑥3 2

𝑥 − 𝑥0 𝑥 − 𝑥1 𝑥 − 𝑥2 𝑥⋅ 𝑥−1 ⋅ 𝑥−2
𝑙3 (𝑥) = ⋅ ⋅ =
𝑥3 − 𝑥0 𝑥3 − 𝑥1 𝑥3 − 𝑥2 6
3

𝐿(𝑥) = ෍ 𝑦𝑖 ⋅ 𝑙𝑖 (𝑥)
𝑖=0
Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente
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 x y
0 5
5 1 3
𝐿(𝑥) = − ⋅ 𝑥 − 1 ⋅ 𝑥 − 2 ⋅ 𝑥 − 3 2 5
6 3 23
3
+ ⋅𝑥⋅ 𝑥−2 ⋅ 𝑥−3
2
5
− ⋅𝑥⋅ 𝑥−1 ⋅ 𝑥−3
2
23
+ ⋅𝑥⋅ 𝑥−1 ⋅ 𝑥−2
6

Polynomial Interpolation Mauro S. Innocente

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