Exactly Diagonal Gram Matrices in Jacobi Weighted Histopolation
In the current work, we study univariate polynomial weighted histopolation on $[-1,1]$, where the data are weighted integrals over a family of intervals. After choosing a polynomial basis, the weighted moment conditions lead to a histopolation matrix whose structure depends on the weight and on the geometry of the cells. We investigate its nonsingularity, which guarantees unisolvence, together with exact diagonality of its Gram matrix, which allows its singular values and spectral condition number to be determined explicitly. For families of intervals whose endpoints belong to a fixed grid, we characterize unisolvence in terms of the connectedness of the associated endpoint graph. In the unisolvent case, this graph is a tree, and the unique paths joining consecutive grid points provide an explicit expression for the inverse matrix. This identity gives explicit formulas for the singular values of both matrices, and shows that their condition numbers in the two-norm coincide and grow linearly with the matrix size. Moreover, it yields the limiting singular value distributions of the two matrix sequences. We also establish a general diagonalization criterion based on discrete weighted orthogonality. The criterion recovers the first kind Chebyshev construction and leads to a diagonal configuration for the constant weight based on discrete sine orthogonality. For interval families with a connected endpoint graph, the corresponding moment vectors define an inner product on the polynomial space and lead to a monic basis with a diagonal weighted Gram matrix. Finally, we derive reduction formulas for cell moments associated with generalized Jacobi weights and introduce an alternative basis for shifted Jacobi weights. Applied to the Chebyshev weight of the fourth kind, this basis, together with a correction of one nonconstant element, yields an exactly diagonal Gram matrix.