Metric Approximation of Set-Valued Functions of Bounded Variation by Integral Operators

We introduce an adaptation of integral approximation operators to set-valued functions (SVFs, multifunctions), mapping a compact interval [a, b] into the space of compact non-empty subsets of \({\mathbb {R}}^d\). All operators are adapted by replacing the Riemann integral for real-valued functions by the weighted metric integral for SVFs of bounded variation with compact graphs. For such a SVF F, we obtain pointwise error estimates for sequences of integral operators at points of continuity, leading to convergence at such points to F. At points of discontinuity of F, we derive estimates, which yield the convergence to a certain set described in terms of the metric selections of F. To obtain these estimates we refine and extend known results on approximation of real-valued functions by integral operators. Our analysis uses recently defined one-sided local quasi-moduli at points of discontinuity and several notions of local Lipschitz property at points of continuity. We also provide a global approach for error bounds. A multifunction F is represented by the set of all its metric selections, while its approximation (its image under the operator) is represented by the set of images of these metric selections under the operator. A bound on the Hausdorff distance between these two sets of single-valued functions in \(L^1\) provides our global estimates. The theory is applied to concrete operators: the Bernstein–Durrmeyer operator and the Kantorovich operator.