Characterization of approximation schemes satisfying Shapiro's Theorem

In this paper we characterize the approximation schemes that satisfy Shapiro's theorem and we use this result for several classical approximation processes. In particular, we study approximation of operators by finite rank operators and n-term approximation for several dictionaries and norms. Moreover, we compare our main theorem with a classical result by Yu. Brundyi and we show two examples of approximation schemes that do not satisfy Shapiro's theorem.