AITKENS INTERPOLATING POLYNOMIAL

Prof. Samuel Okolie, Prof. Yinka Adekunle &

Dr. Seun Ebiesuwa
All interpolating polynomials are merely different forms of the same polynomial. The
issue is to seek some particular easy way of writing the polynomial in a manner that
makes it easy to use. One such way is Aitken’s form.

The first degree langrage interpolating polynomial

f1(x) = f(x0) (x – x1) + f(x1) x – x0
x0 -x1 x1 –x0
which can be rewritten as:
f1(x) = 1 [f(x0)(x1 – x) - f (x1)(x0 –x)]
x 1 – x0
f1(x) = 1 f(x0) (x0 – x )
x1 – x0 f(x1) (x1 – x)
this particular polynomial exactly matches the tabulated function at x 0- and x1
if we use the notation P01 (x) to indicate that a perfect fit is obtained at x 0 and x1, then
p01 (x) = 1 f(x0) x0- x
x1 – x0 f(x1) x1 – x
where the subscript 01 indicates that a perfect fit is obtained at x 0 and x1.

Similarly second interpolating polynomial P 02 (x) which provides a perfect fit at x0 and
x2 can be represented by
p02 (x) = 1 f(x0) x0- x
x2 – x0 f(x2) x2 – x

Similarly in general, we could use x 0 and any other tabulated point such as the one at
xι, to get a polynomial useful for interpolating between x 0 and xι :

p0ι (x) = 1 f(x0) x0-x

xι – x0 f(xι) xι – x
Let us now combine P01 and P02 in the following way to give a new polynomial which
we call P012
P012 (x) = 1 [ P01 (x) (x2 –x) - P02 (x)(x1 –x ) ]
x2 – x1
= 1 P01(x) ( x1- x )
xι – x 0 P02(x) ( x2 – x )
which is an interpolation between P01 and P02
P01 and P02 are each of first degree; P02 is of second degree since it has another factor
of x.
Also, it gives exact values of f(x) at the tabulated points x0, x1 and x2
Hence, P012 (x) is a second - degree polynomial and it also matches f(x) exactly at the 3
tabulated point at x0, x1, x2. But we know that the interpolating polynomial is unique,
P012 must be the second-degree interpolating polynomial.

In the same way we can define P01ι which would have interpolated exactly at three
tabulated points x0, x1, xι in terms of the determinant tabulated notation as
p01ι (x) = 1 p01 (x) x1-x
xι – x1 p0ι (x) xι – x
Each of these p01ι would have been a second degree interpolating polynomial
obtained in a rather painless and systematic way.
We can show easily that the expression
P0123(x) = 1 p012 (x) ( x2 – x )
x3 – x 2 p013 (x) ( x3 – x )
is in turn a third degree interpolating polynomial which exactly interpolates at the 4
tabulated points at x0, x1, x2, x3.
Similarly, we can derive P012ι for any of the other xι. By carrying out this process further,
we could develop the interpolating polynomial to as high a degree as we wish. To make
sure we develop the process in an orderly way we usually proceed as follows.
(1) Use the tabulated points x0 through xn, we calculate P01, P02 .… P0n
(2) Next we calculate P012, P013 ….. P01n
(3) Then we calculate P0123, P0124, P0125 …..P012n
(4) We calculate P01234, P01235, P01236, ….. P0123n
The process is usually written in the form of a table as follows:
Note: each value of P01…..ι is forward from
(1) The P immediately to its left and
(2) The P at the top of the column to the left

eg; P0123ι is calculated from P012ι and P0123 using the equation
p0123ι (x) = 1 p0123 (x) x1 – x
xι – x3 p012ι (x) xι – x

in general we may find any P012 ….h, ι from the following:

p012 …h (x) = 1 p012 … h (x) xh - x
xι – x h p012 … h – 1,ι (x) xι – x
Since f(x) is a cubic equation. Only a third degree polynomial is required and the correct
answer of f(2) = 23 = 8 quite zoom as P0123
* In general the number of points given in a table may be less than the degree of
the function so that we will never reach the exact answer by interpolation. Yet the
diagonal terms P01, P012, P0123, P01234 …. will generally approach the interpolated value
more closely; by letting the computer programme monitor the difference between
successive interpolations, we can interpolate until the difference between successive
interpolation become arbitrarily small.
* Aitken’s method has an advantage that we need not decide in advance what
degree of polynomial to take but can let the program decide when to stop.
Theoretically this is a great advantage; practically we find that the process may
converge to the wrong value because the rounding errors may accumulate to make
the higher degree polynomial less accurate.