Approximation by discrete variational splines (Q1975677)

The authors present a numerical approximation of curves and surfaces from a given scattered data set. An approximating curve or surface problem is obtained by minimizing a quadratic functional in a parametric finite element space, its solution is called a discrete smoothing variational spline. The existence and uniqueness of this problem are shown, as long as the convergence of the method is established. Some particular examples are also given.