The paper introduces a new characterization of strict positive definiteness for kernels on the 2-sphere without assuming the kernel to be radially (isotropic) or axially symmetric. The results use the series expansion of the kernel in spherical harmonics. Then additional sufficient conditions are proven for kernels with a block structure of expansion coefficients. These generalize the result derived by Chen et al. (2003, A necessary and sufficient condition for strictly positive definite functions on spheres. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 131, 2733–2740) for radial kernels to nonradial kernels.

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Quasi-interpolation is one of the most useful and often applied methods for the approximation of functions and data in mathematics and applications. Its advantages are manifold: quasi-interpolants are able to approximate in any number of dimensions, they are efficient and relatively easy to formulate for scattered and meshed nodes and for any number of data. This book provides an introduction into the field for graduate students and researchers, outlining all the mathematical background and methods of implementation. The mathematical analysis of quasi-interpolation is given in three directions, namely on the basis (spline spaces, radial basis functions) from which the approximation is taken, on the form and computation of the quasi-interpolants (point evaluations, averages, least squares), and on the mathematical properties (existence, locality, convergence questions, precision). Learn which type of quasi-interpolation to use in different contexts and how to optimise its features to suit applications in physics and engineering.

We present sufficient condition for a family of positive definite kernels on a compact two-point homogeneous space to be strictly positive definite based on their representation as a series of spherical harmonics. The family analyzed is a generalization of the isotropic kernels and the case of a real sphere is analyzed in details.