An insight into RBF-FD approximations augmented with polynomials

Abstract

Radial basis function-generated finite differences (RBF-FD) based on the combination of polyharmonic splines (PHS) with high degree polynomials have recently emerged as a powerful and robust numerical approach for the local interpolation and derivative approximation of functions over scattered node layouts. Among the key features, (i) high orders of accuracy can be achieved without the need of selecting a shape parameter or the issues related to numerical ill-conditioning, and (ii) the harmful edge effects associated to the use of high order polynomials (better known as Runge’s phenomenon) can be overcome by simply increasing the stencil size for a fixed polynomial degree. The present study complements our previous results, providing an analytical insight into RBF-FD approximations augmented with polynomials. It is based on a closed-form expression for the interpolant, which reveals the mechanisms underlying these features, including the role of polynomials and RBFs in the interpolant, the approximation error, and the behavior of the cardinal functions near boundaries. Numerical examples are included for illustration.