New error bounds for Legendre approximations of differentiable functions

Abstract: In this paper we present a new perspective on error analysis of Legendre approximations for differentiable functions. We start by introducing a sequence of Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto polynomials and prove their theoretical properties, such as an explicit and optimal upper bound. We then apply these properties to derive a new and explicit bound for the Legendre coefficients of differentiable functions and establish some explicit and optimal error bounds for Legendre projections in the $L^2$ and $L^{\infty}$ norms. Illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the sharpness of our new results.