Optimal spline spaces of higher degree for L2 Â n-widths

In this paper we derive optimal subspaces for Kolmogorov n-widths in the L2 norm with respect to sets of functions defined by kernels. This enables us to prove the existence of optimal spline subspaces of arbitrarily high degree for certain classes of functions in Sobolev spaces of importance in finite element methods. We construct these spline spaces explicitly in special cases.