Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Department of Mathematics Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Department of Mathematics Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Department of Mathematics Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Isaac Newton
(1643 1727)
Limits
Definition 1. Let f : D R, where D R, and let x0 be such that D contains an interval of the
form (x0 , x0 + ), except possibly the point x0 . We say that f (x) tends to ` R as x tends to
x0 , if to every > 0, there corresponds a > 0 (depending on both the function f and the point
x0 ) such that
f (x) ` < whenever 0 < x x0 < .
(1)
Theorem 1. (Uniqueness of limit)
The limit of a function, if it exists, is unique.
Proof. Suppose f (x) tends to both `1 and `2 as x tends to x0 . Let > 0. By (1) there exist
positive real numbers 1 and 2 such that
f (x) `1 < whenever 0 < x x0 < 1 ,
2
f (x) `2 < whenever 0 < x x0 < 2 .
2
2
2
= .
Remark 1. Theorem 1 justifies the use of a notation for the definition of the limit. We write
limxx0 f (x) = ` to denote f (x) tends to ` R as x tends to x0 .
Example 1. Consider the function
(
f (x) =
1 if x > 0;
1 if x < 0.
We show that limx0 f (x) does not exist. Suppose, on the contrary, limx0 f (x) = `. With = 1,
we choose > 0 such that 0 < |x 0| < implies |f (x) `| < 1. Since both x = /2 and x = /2
satisfy 0 < |x 0| < , we must have |1 `| < 1 and | 1 `| < 1. From |1 `| < 1 we get ` > 0,
and from | 1 `| < 1 we get ` < 0. Therefore no such ` exists.
Example 2. Consider the function
(
f (x) =
1 if x Q;
0 if x
/ Q.
We show that limxx0 f (x) does not exist for each x0 R. Fix x0 R. Suppose, on the contrary,
limx0 f (x) = `. With = 1/2, we choose > 0 such that 0 < |x x0 | < implies |f (x) `| < 1/2.
Choose x1 Q and x2
/ Q satisfying 0 < |x x0 | < . Then we must have |1 `| < 1/2 and
|0 `| < 1/2. From |1 `| < 1/2 we get ` > 1/2, and from |0 `| < 1/2 we get ` < 1/2. Therefore
no such ` exists.
Example 3. Consider the function
(
f (x) =
x if x Q;
0 if x
/ Q.
We show that limx0 f (x) = 0. Let > 0 be arbitrarily chosen. Since f (x) is one of 0, x, we have
|f (x)| |x|. Therefore 0 < |x 0| < implies |f (x) 0| < . This proves our claim.
Theorem 2. (Properties of limits)
If limxx0 f (x) = `1 and limxx0 g(x) = `2 , then
2 (`1
2 `1
+ 2 ) + 12 `2
+ `2 +
2
(iii) Exercise.
xx0
xx0
n
X
ck xk
k=0
n
X
k=0
lim ck xk =
xx0
n
X
ck xk0 = p x0 .
k=0
Proposition 2. (The Squeeze Principle)
Suppose that there exists > 0 such that
g1 (x) f (x) g2 (x) for all x satisfying 0 < |x x0 | < .
If limxx0 g1 (x) = ` = limxx0 g2 (x), then limxx0 f (x) = `.
Proof. Let > 0 be arbitrarily chosen. Choose positive real numbers 1 and 2 such that
g1 (x) ` < whenever 0 < x x0 < 1 ,
g2 (x) ` < whenever 0 < x x0 < 2 .
Continuity
References
Richard R. Goldberg, Methods of Real Analysis, Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1976.
Kenneth A. Ross, Elementary Analysis: The Theory of Calculus, Third Edition, McGraw Hill
International Editions, 1976.