A Generalized FC-Gram Approximation Framework with Analysis and Applications

Abstract

The FC-Gram algorithm constructs high-order trigonometric approximations of nonperiodic functions by periodically extending them to a larger interval, with the quality of the blending continuation of Gram polynomials over the extension interval directly governing the approximation accuracy. We introduce GenFC, a generalized FC-Gram framework in which the continuation of each Gram polynomial is shaped by a cutoff function satisfying prescribed boundary flatness conditions. We establish a convergence theorem showing that for any such family the GenFC approximation error satisfies $O(n^{-\min (r+{\hat{I}}^2,d)})$ in the supremum norm on the original interval, where $f\in C^r([0,1])$ has an integrable $(r+1)$th derivative, $d$ is the number of Gram polynomials, and ${\hat{I}}^2\in [0,1]$ is the Fourier decay exponent of $f^{(r+1)}$. The modified FC-Gram algorithm, recently introduced by the authors, is recovered as a special case, and several explicit families satisfying these conditions are constructed in the paper. Numerical experiments across smooth, limited-regularity, and rapidly oscillating test cases confirm the theoretical predictions. The framework is further applied to high-order solvers for linear ODEs and parabolic PDEs via backward differentiation formulae (BDF) time-stepping, demonstrating high-order accuracy throughout.