The following result is well-known: If $f\in X$ ($X$:
some normed function space) can be approximated of order
$\|f-f_n\|_X\le c\inf_{g_n\in X_n}\|f-g_n\|_X=O(n^{-s-r})$
($r,s>0$ fixed) by elements $f_1,f_2,\dotsc$ of certain
subspaces $X_1\subseteq X_2\subseteq\dotsc$ for which
the Bernstein inequalities $\|g_n\|_Y\le c\,n^r\|g_n\|_X,$
$g_n\in X_n$, hold true with some Banach space
$Y\hookrightarrow X$ of smooth functions, then $\|f-f_n\|_Y=
O(n^{-s})$. (Usually, $\|f\|_Y$ contains the norm of $f$ and
some norm of $f^{(r)}$, so that $\|f-f_n\|_Y=O(n^{-s})$ means
simultaneous approximation of $f$ and $f^{(r)}$ by $f_n$ and
$f_n^{(r)}$, respectively.)
We show that this result remains true if the order
$O(a_n^{-1}n^{-r})$ is considered instead of $O(n^{-s-r})$,
where $a_n$ is strictly increasing and converges to infinity
faster than $n^\varepsilon$ (in a certain sense).
We also present similar results in case
$\sum (n^r\|f-f_n\|_X)^q(a_{n+1}^q-a_n^q)<\infty$ and
in case of non-classical Bernstein inequalities, where
$\{n^r\}$ is replaced by some other increasing sequence.
Keywords:
Simultaneous approximation, Best approximation errors