Definition
The degree of accuracy, or precision, of a quadrature formula is the positive integer
such that
for all polynomials
of degree less than or equal to
, but
, for some polynomial of degree
. Here
is the error term of the quadrature formula.
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Since integration and summation are both linear operations, the degree of accuracy can also be written with the conditions
for
and
.
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This means that the
point closed Newton-Cotes formulae with
even have a degree of precision equal to
. The
point Newton-Cotes formulae with
odd only have a degree of accuracy equal to
.
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