HOMEWORK 3 SOLUTIONS

MATH 171, 2009

Book 31.5. Prove that f has a limit at a if and only if for every > 0, there exists > 0 such that if 0 < |xa| < and 0 < |y a| < , then |f (x) f (y)| < . Solution. First suppose f has limit L at a, and let > 0. Then there exists some such that if 0 < |x a| < and x X, then |f (x) L| < 2 . Therefore if 0 < |x a| < and 0 < |y a| < , then we have |f (x) f (y)| | f (x) L| + |L f (y)| < + . 2 2 Conversely, suppose that for all there exists > 0 such that 0 < |x a| < and 0 < |y a| < imply |f (x) f (y)| < . Let > 0 and let be as prescribed above. Let {an } be a sequence with limn an = a. Then there exists some N1 with |an a| < for all n N1 , and hence |f (an ) f (am )| < for all n, m N1 . Hence {f (an )} is a Cauchy sequence, and so the limit limn f (an ) = L exists. So, there exists some N2 such that n N2 implies |f (an ) L| < . Now, given any sequence {bn } with limn bn = a, we can pick N3 such that n N3 implies 0 < |bn a| < . Hence, for all n max{N1 , N2 , N3 }, we have Since was arbitrary, we have limn f (bn ) = L. Hence by Theorem 31.2, we have limxa f (x) = L. |f (bn ) L| |f (bn ) f (an )| + |f (an ) L| < + = 2 .

Book 32.4. Prove that if limx f (x) = L, then limn f (n) = L. Solution. Let > 0. By Denition 32.3, since limx f (x) = L, there exists a number M such that if x > M , then |f (x) L| < . Let N = M + 1. Then for all n N , we have n > M , and so |f (n) L| < . Hence by Denition 10.2, we have limn f (n) = L

List 1 #2. Let f : R R be a function such that x, y R,

f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y),

f (xy) = f (x)f (y).

Show that f is either the zero function or the identity x x. Solution. First note that f (0) = 0, since for every x R we have f (x) = f (x + 0) = f (x) + f (0). Next, note that

f (1) = f (1 1) = f (1)f (1) = f (1)2 . But the only numbers satisfying x = x2 are 0 and 1, so we have either f (1) = 0 or f (1) = 1. If f (1) = 0, then for all x R, we have and f is the zero function.

f (x) = f (1 x) = f (1)f (x) = 0 f (x) = 0,

If f (1) = 1, we prove that f (x) = x for all x N using induction. The base cases x = 0, 1 are clear. Assuming f (k) = k, we get that f (k + 1) = f (k) + f (1) = k + 1. Hence, f (x) = x for all n N. Next note that for x N, we have f (x) + f (x) = f (x + x) = f (0) = 0 = So f (x) = x for all x Z. Next note that for x Z with x = 0, we have 1 1 1 f (x)f = f (1) = 1 = f = . x x f (x) Hence for x, y Z with y = 0, we have x 1 f (x) x f = f (x)f = = . y y f (y) y So f (x) = x for all x Q. Now, suppose x R with x 0. Then x = x x and so f (x) = f ( x)f ( x) = f ( x)2 . Hence f maps any nonnegative real number to a nonnegative real number. We use this to show that f is order-preserving: if y x, then since y x 0, we have f (y) f (x) = f (y x) 0 = f (y) f (x). f (x) = f (x) = x.

1 Finally, consider any x R. Pick a sequence {an } such that an Q and x n < an < x for all n, which is possible since Q is dense in R. Similarly, pick a sequence {bn } such that bn Q and 1 x < bn < x + n for all n. So for all n, we have an < x < bn . Since f is order-preserving, we have f (an ) f (x) f (bn ). Since an and bn are rational, this gives an f (x) bn . We then take the limit as n goes to innity and use Theorem 14.3 to get

x = lim an f (x) lim bn = x.

n n

Hence f (x) = x for all x R.

List 1 #21. Let f : R R be a continuous function such that

Show that there exists R such that f (x) = x for any x.

x, y R : f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y).

Solution. First note that f (0) = 0, since for every x R we have f (x) = f (x + 0) = f (x) + f (0). Let f (1) = . We prove that f (nx) = nf (x) for all n N and x R using induction on n. The base cases x = 0, 1 are clear. Assuming f (kx) = kf (x), we get that f ((k + 1)x) = f (kx + x) = kf (x) + f (x). Hence, f (x) = nf (x) for all n N. Next note that for n N, we have So f (zx) = zf (x) for all z Z. f (nx) + f (nx) = f (nx + nx) = f (0) = 0 = f (nx) = f (nx) = nf (x).

Plugging in x = 1, we get f (n) = n for all z Z. And for x, y Z with y = 0, we have x x x x x = f (x) = f y = yf = f = . y y y y So f (x) = x for all x Q. Finally, consider any x R. Pick a sequence {an } such that an Q for all n and limn an = x. Since Q is dense in R, such a construction is possible (for each n N, there exists some an Q with 1 x < an < x + n ). We have f (x) = lim f (y)
yx

since f is continuous, by Denition 33.1 by Theorem 31.2 since an Q since an Q

= lim f (an )
n n

= lim an = lim an
n

= x. Hence f (x) = x for all x R.

x List 2 #2. Let fn : R R be dened by fn (x) = n2 where n 1. (1) Show that the sequence of functions (fn ) converges pointwise to the zero function. Is the convergence uniform on R? (2) Show that the convergence is uniform on any [a, b]. (3) Show that the series of functions n=1 fn (x) converges normally on any [a, b].

Solution. (1) Let > 0 and x R. If x = 0, then we have |fn (x) 0| = 0 < for all n, and so we 1 1 can assume x = 0. Pick N such that N 2 < |x| , which is possible since limN N 2 = 0. Then for all

|x| x n N , we have |fn (x)0| = | n2 | N 2 < . Hence the sequence (fn ) converges pointwise to the zero x function. However, the convergence is not uniform, because supxR |fn (x) 0| = supxR | n2 | = does not tend to 0 as n .

(2) The convergence is uniform on any [a, b] because we have

x[a,b]

sup |fn (x) 0| =

max{|a|, |b|} n2

converges to 0 as n . (3) The series of functions

n=1

fn (x) conveges normally on any [a, b] because we have max{|a|, |b|} n2

x[a,b]

sup |fn (x)| =

with

max{|a|, |b|} 1 = max{|a|, |b|} < . 2 n n2 n=1 n=1

A. Prove the the square root mapping is uniformly continuous on [0, ). Solution. Let > 0 be arbitrary. First we show the square root is continuous on [0, 2]. If x = 0, let = 2 . Then if |x y| < , then either y = 0 so | x y| = 0 < or y = 0 so 2 = . |x y| < = y < 2 = | x y| = y < If x = 0, then let = x. We have |x y| |x y| x |x y| < = | x y| = < = . x+ y x x Hence the square root is continuous on [0, 2], and since [0, 2] is compact, the square root is uniformly continuous on [0, 2] by Fundamental Theorem 20 in Chapter 1 of the class notes. So there exists > 0 such that x, y [0, 2] and |x y| < implies | x y| < . Now we show uniform continuity on [1, ). Pick = . Then |x y| |x y| |x y| < = | x y| = < < . 2 2 x+ y Finally, we show uniform continuity on [0, ). Pick = min{, , 1}. Suppose |x y| < . Then since 1, it must be the case that either x, y [0, 2] or x, y [1, ). If we have x, y [0, 2], then since , we get | x y| < by above. If we have x, y [1, ), then since , we get | x y| < by above. Hence the square root is uniformly continuous on [0, ).

C. Let f : R R be a continuous mapping. Suppose that at + and , f tends to +. Show that f has a global minimum on R, and attains it. Solution. Since f tends to + at , there exist numbers a < 0 and b > 0 such that x < a or x > b implies that f (x) > f (0). Since f is continuous, by Theorem 34.4 there exists a point c [a, b] such that f (c) f (x) for all x [a, b]. Additionally, we have f (c) f (0) < f (x) for all x [a, b]. Hence we have f (c) f (x) for all x R, so f has a global minumum on R and attains it / at c.