Lec 27: Local extrema

MATH 147 Section 2, Fall Term 2022

I Local extrema and critical points

I Fermat’s Theorem
I Global extrema revisited

Key references: Text book section 3.4.1

Local extrema and critical points

Definition 1
Let f be a function defined on a nonempty set S ⊆ R.
We say that f has a local maximum (or relative maximum) at a point c ∈ S if there exists an open interval
I ⊆ S such that c ∈ I and f (x) ≤ f (c) for all x ∈ I .
We say that f has a local minimum (or relative minimum) at a point c ∈ S if there exists an open interval
I ⊆ S such that c ∈ I and f (x) ≥ f (c) for all x ∈ I .
We say that f has a local extremum (or relative extremum) at c ∈ S if f has either a local maximum or a local
minimum at c.
A critical point of f is a point c in an open interval I ⊆ S such that f 0 (c) = 0 or f is not differentiable at c.

Compare these with the definitions of global maxima and minima from Lecture 18.
The next slide poses some questions to help you think about their properties and the differences between global
and local extrema.
Thinking about extrema and critical points

What does a local/global extremum look like? What is not a local/global extremum? Think of a few different
examples, considering:
1. Differentiable, continuous, discontinuous functions
2. End points of an interval domain
3. Can a point be both a local and global extremum?
4. Does a local extremum have to be a global extremum, or vice versa?
5. Can a point be both a local extremum and a critical point? Does one imply the other?
6. Must a function have local extrema or global extrema or critical points?
Fermat’s Theorem

Theorem 1 (Fermat’s Theorem or The Local Extrema Theorem)

If a function f has a local maximum or a local minimum at c, then c is a critical point of f .
This can be equivalently stated as: If a function f has a local extremum at c and f is differentiable at c, then
f 0 (c) = 0.

Proof.
We need only prove the case for local maxima. If instead f has a local minimum at c, we may consider the
function −f , which has a local maximum at c, and use linearity of differentiation.
Suppose that f has a local maximum at c and that f is differentiable at c. Use the definition of a derivative and
f (a+h)−f (a)
consider the sign of h
to the right and to the left of c to show that f 0 (c) ≤ 0 and f 0 (c) ≥ 0.
Remarks about Fermat’s Theorem

1. This theorem tells us that we need only check all critical points to find local maxima/minima.
2. The theorem does not tell us how to find critical points – this is a root-finding problem.
3. Warning: The converse is not true. Not all critical points must be local extrema.
Can you think of an example?
Examples
Find all critical points of the following functions. (We will also comment on whether they are local maxima or
minima but the systematic method for determining won’t be covered until next week.)
1. f (x) = x 2 − x.
First, note that f is differentiable on R because it is a polynomial. This rules out the possibility of critical
points where f is not differentiable.
Let’s now look for points satisfying f 0 (x) = 0. Differentiating f and setting this equal to 0 gives

2x − 1 = 0
1
=⇒ x= .
2
This must be the only critical point of f .
Writing f (x) = x(x − 1), we see that f is a quadratic function that increases as |x| becomes large, so the
critical point x = 1/2 must correspond to a local minimum (also a global minimum).
(
cos(x), if 0 ≤ x ≤ 2π,
2. f (x) =
− cos(x), if − 2π ≤ x < 0.

After some thought, we should find that the critical points are: −π, 0, π. By sketching the graph, we see
that local maxima are at x = −π and x = 0, there is a local minimum at x = π.
Question: Why did we not consider x = 2π?
More exercises

Find all of the critical points of:

(
x, if x < 0,
1. f (x) =
2x, if x ≥ 0.

2. f (x) = x 3 .
3. f (x) = x 3 − x 2 .
Global extrema revisited

Suppose we have a function f : [a, b] → R. What strategy could we use to determine the global extrema (if they
exist)? Can we use Fermat’s Theorem to help with this?