5.

Sequences of functions, functionseries,

elementary functions

Calculus
 Sequences of functions
• Definition. Let D 6= ∅ and
F := {f : D → R | f is a function}.
Then a map of the type N → F is called a sequence of functions defined on D and
denoted by (fn ), (gn ), or (hn ).
 Pointwise convergent sequences
• Let (fn ) be a sequence of functions with domain D. Then, for any fixed x ∈ D,
(fn (x)) ⊆ R is a real sequence.
• Definition (Pointwise convergence). We say that the sequence of functions (fn ) is
pointwise convergent on H ⊆ D if the real sequence (fn (x)) is convergent for all x ∈ H.
Let denote D ∗ the largest subset of D on which (fn ) is convergent pointwise. Then the
function defined by
F (x) := lim fn (x), x ∈ D∗
n→∞
is called a limit function.

• Example. Let D := [0, 2] and fn : D → R, fn (x) := x n if n ∈ N. Then


0
 if 0 ≤ x < 1,
fn (x) → 1 if x = 1,

+∞ if 1 < x ≤ 2.

Consequently, D ∗ = [0, 1] and the limit function is

(
0 if 0 ≤ x < 1,
F (x) =
1 if x = 1.

Observe that any member of the above sequence is continuous but the limit function is
not!
 Uniformly convergent sequences

• Definition (Uniform convergence). Keeping the previous notation, we shall say that
(fn ) is uniformly convergent on H ⊆ D if its pointwise limit function F exists on H and, for
all ε > 0, there exists n0 ∈ N, such that |fn (x) − F (x)| < ε holds for all x ∈ H whenever
n ≥ n0 .

• Uniform convergence is stronger that pointwise convergence: If a sequence of func-

tions is uniformly convergent then it is pointwise convergent.

• Theorem. If (fn ) is a uniformly convergent sequence of continuous functions, then its

limit function is continuous.

• Corollary: The sequence fn : [0, 2] → R, fn (x) := x n appearing in our previous

example is not uniformly convergent on [0, 1].
 Example of a uniformly convergent sequence

• For n ∈ N, let
sin(nx)
fn : R → R, fn (x) := .
n
• Obviously, (fn ) is a pointwise convergent sequence on R with a limit function equals
to zero everywhere. The convergence is uniform: Let ε > 0 be arbitrary. Then
sin(nx) | sin(nx)| 1
|fn (x) − F (x)| = −0 = < .
n n n
Thus let n0 := d ε1 e + 1.
 Function series and power series

• Definition (Function series). Let (fn ) be a sequence of functions. Then the sequence
of functions
X n 
fk
k =1
is called a function series defined by (fn ).
• Remark: In view of the above definition, any function series is a sequence of func-
tions. Thus it makes sense to speak about the pointwise and uniform convergence of a
function series.
• Definition (Power series). Let a0 ∈ R, (an ) ⊆ R and x0 ∈ R. Then the function
series defined by the sequence
(
a0 if n = 0
fn :=
an (id −x0 )n otherwise

is called a power series. The point x0 is called the center or the midpoint of the power
series.

• Remark: Observe that any power series is convergent in its midpoint. Thus the set of
convergence of a power series cannot be empty.
 Set of convergence (Power Series)
• Theorem (Cauchy–Hadamard). Let (an ) be a real sequence and x0 ∈ R. Define
further the nonnegative extended real number
p
α := lim sup n |an |.
n→∞

The power series

∞
X
an (id −x0 )
n=0
converges at a point x ∈ R if and only if
x ∈ ]x0 − r , x0 + r [ ∪ {x0 },
where r is called the radius of convergence and is given by


 0 if α = +∞,
1

r := if 0 < α < +∞,
α


+∞ if α = 0.
• Remark. Keeping the above notation, if
an+1
lim
n→∞ an
exists and finite, then its value is α.
 The exponential function

• Theorem and definition (The exponential function). The power series

∞
X xn
(1)
n!
n=0

is convergent on R. Its sumfunction is called the exponential function and denoted by

exp : R → R.

1
Proof (Apply Cauchy–Hadamard Theorem). Obviously, we have an := n!
and x0 = 0.
To prove our statement, it is enough to show that α = 0. Indeed:
s
1 1 1
α = lim sup n = lim sup √n
= lim √ = 0.
n→∞ n! n→∞ n! n→∞ n n!
The exponential function
 Properties of the exponential function

• Theorem. The following statements hold true.

(E1) The exponential function is strictly increasing, convex, and continuous on its do-
main. Consequently, exp is injective.
(E2) It takes only positive values, exp(0) = 1, furthermore
lim exp(x) = 0 and lim exp(x) = +∞.
x→−∞ x→+∞

(E3) For all x, y ∈ R, we have

−1
exp(x + y ) = exp(x) · exp(y ), thus exp(−x) = exp(x) .

• Remark: In view of (E1) and (E2), the exponential function possesses an inverse
function. Its inverse function is denoted by
ln : R+ → R

and called the logarithm function. (Here R+ stands for the set of positive real
numbers.)
The logarithm function
 Properties of the logarithm function

• Theorem. The following statements hold true.

(L1) The function ln is strictly increasing, concave, and continuous.
(L2) It is surjective, ln(1) = 0, furthermore
lim ln(x) = −∞ and lim ln(x) = +∞.
x→0+ x→+∞

(L3) For all x, y ∈ R+ , we have

thus − ln(x) = ln x −1 .


ln(x · y ) = ln(x) + ln(y ),
 Hyperbolic functions

• Theorem. The power series

∞ ∞
X x 2n+1 X x 2n
sinh(x) := and cosh(x) :=
(2n + 1)! (2n)!
n=0 n=0

are convergent on R.

Name of the above functions:

? sinh - Hyperbolic sine,
? cosh - Hyperbolic cosine.
Hyperbolic functions
 Properties of hyperbolic functions

• Theorem. The following statements hold true.

(H1) For all x ∈ R, we have
1
1

sinh(x) = exp(x) − exp(−x) and cosh(x) = exp(x) + exp(−x) ,
2 2
consequently, the hyperbolic functions are continuous, furthermore cosh is positive.
(H2) sinh(0) = 0 and cosh(0) = 1.
(H3) For all x, y ∈ R,
sinh(x + y ) = sinh(x) cosh(y ) + sinh(y ) cosh(x) and
cosh(x + y ) = cosh(x) cosh(y ) + sinh(x) sinh(y ).
(H4) The function cosh is even, while sinh is odd.
(H5) For all x, y ∈ R, we have
cosh2 (x) − sinh2 (x) = 1.
 Hyperbolic tangent and cotangent

• Definition. The functions tanh : R → R and coth : R \ {0} → R are called

hyperbolic tangent and hyperbolic cotangent, respectively, and are defined by
sinh(x) cosh(x)
tanh(x) := and coth(x) := .
cosh(x) sinh(x)
Hyperbolic tangent and cotangent
 Trigonometric functions

• Definition. The power series

∞ ∞
X x 2n+1 X x 2n
sin(x) := (−1)n and cos(x) := (−1)n
(2n + 1)! (2n)!
n=0 n=0

are convergent on R and are called sine and cosine, respectively.

Trigonometric functions
 Properties of trigonometric functions

• Theorem. The following statements hold true.

(T1) For all x ∈ R, we have
1
1

sin(x) = exp(ix) − exp(−ix) and cos(x) = exp(ix) + exp(−ix) ,
2i 2
consequently trigonometric functions are continuous.
(T2) Trigonometric functions are periodic functions with period 2π.
(T3) sin(0) = 0 and cos(0) = 1.
(T3) For all x, y ∈ R, we have
sin(x + y ) = sin(x) cos(y ) + sin(y ) cos(x) and
cos(x + y ) = cos(x) cos(y ) − sin(x) sin(y ).
(T4) The function cos is even, while sin is odd.
(T5) For all x ∈ R, we have
cos2 (x) + sin2 (x) = 1.
 Tangent and cotangent

Definition. The functions

π
tan : {x ∈ R | x 6= 2
+ k π, if k ∈ Z} → R, and
cot : {x ∈ R | x 6= k π, if k ∈ Z} → R

are called tangent and cotangent, respectively, furthermore

sin(x) cos(x)
tan(x) := and cot(x) := .
cos(x) sin(x)
Tangent and cotangent
 Inverse of hyperbolic functions

Definition. The function sinh is continuous and strictly increasing, hence it is

invertible. Its inverse is called area hyperbolic sine. Notation: arsinh : R → R.
Finally, we have
 p 
arsinh(x) = ln x + x 2 + 1 , (x ∈ R).

Definition. The function cosh is continuous and strictly increasing on the set
of non-negative real numbers, thus this restriction has an inverse function.
This inverse is called area hyperbolic cosine. Notation: arcosh : [1, +∞] → R.
Furthermore we have
 p 
arcosh(x) = ln x + x 2 − 1 , (x ∈ R and x ≥ 1).
Inverse of hyperbolic functions
 Inverse of trigonometric functions

Definition. The function sin is continuous and strictly increasing on [− π2 , π2 ]

thus it has in inverse function on the image which is called the arcus sine.
Notation: arcsin : [−1, 1] → [− π2 , π2 ].

Definition. The function cos is continuous and strictly decreasing on [0, π],
hence it has in inverse function on the image which is called arcus cosine
and denoted by arccos : [−1, 1] → [0, π].
Inverse of trigonometric functions
 Inverse of tangent function

Definition. The function tan is continuous and strictly increasing on [− π2 , π2 ]

hence it has an inverse on the image, which is called arcus tangent and
denoted by arctan : R → [− π2 , π2 ].
Inverse of tangent function