Skip to main content

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

Required fields*

4
  • 10
    $\begingroup$ Yes. A standard theorem (you can find it in most textbooks on approximation theory) is that for every positive continuous function $\delta$ on $\mathbb R$ and any continuous $f$ there, one can find a real analytic (even entire) $g$ such that $|g-f|\le\delta$ on the line. This doesn't yet give you what you want if used just as a black box, but if you look at the proof, you'll be able to modify it pretty easily to answer your question. To get 1-1, it helps to approximate the derivative together with $f$ itself. If you still have trouble with it, let me know and I'll post more details :-) $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 3, 2025 at 2:00
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ This is certainly so if the curve is parametrized by a non-compact interval. But if the curve is parametrized by $[a,b]$ the answer is negative. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 3, 2025 at 15:38
  • $\begingroup$ @fedja Can you say a bit more about how controlling/approximating the derivative allows you to prevent self-intersections between distant input points? $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 3, 2025 at 22:10
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @KevinCasto Distant points are controlled by the small error of the approximation to a continuous curve you draw adding piece by piece already. The derivative is needed only to avoid self-intersections in a very near vicinity (if you have a non-self intersecting continuous $f$, its uniform approximation $g$ certainly won't glue faraway parameters, but can glue very close ones as much as it wants unless you control something like the derivative as well). $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 3, 2025 at 23:23