Answer to Question #306271 in Real Analysis for Fresh

Question #306271

Consider the function

F(x)= xsin(π/x) 0<x≤1

0 x=0

Show that f(x) is continuous but not of bounded variation


1
Expert's answer
2022-03-07T17:10:01-0500

First, let us prove that ff is continuous. It is continuous at any 0<x10<x\leq 1, as for any such point we can find a neighbourhood not containing zero, and thus xsin(π/x)x\mapsto \sin(\pi/x) is well-defined and continuous. For x=0x=0 let us consider the limit limx0xsin(π/x)=0\lim_{x\to 0} x\sin(\pi/x) = 0, as sin(π/x)1|\sin(\pi/x)|\leq 1 and x0x\to 0. Therefore, ff is continuous.

Now, let us prove that it is not of bounded variation. For this we will consider the following subdivisions:

x0=0,x1=1n+1/2,x2=1n1/2,...,xn+1=1x_0 = 0, x_1= \frac{1}{n+1/2}, x_2 = \frac{1}{n-1/2}, ... , x_{n+1}=1 (for example, for n=3n=3 the subdivision is {0,27,25,23,1}\{0, \frac{2}{7}, \frac{2}{5}, \frac{2}{3}, 1\} )

For this subdivision the variation is given by :

Vn(f)=0inf(xi+1)f(xi)V_n(f) = \sum_{0\leq i \leq n} |f(x_{i+1})-f(x_i)|

For i=0i=0 we have f(x1)f(x0)=1n+1/2|f(x_1)-f(x_0)|=\frac{1}{n+1/2} and for 0<i<n0<i<n we have

1n(i1)+1/2(1)ni+11ni+1/2(1)ni|\frac{1}{n-(i-1)+1/2}\cdot (-1)^{n-i+1}-\frac{1}{n-i+1/2} \cdot (-1)^{n-i}|

We remark that these expressions have opposite signs so we have

1n(i1)+1/2(1)ni+11ni+1/2(1)ni=1n(i1)+1/2+1ni+1/2|\frac{1}{n-(i-1)+1/2}\cdot (-1)^{n-i+1}-\frac{1}{n-i+1/2} \cdot (-1)^{n-i}| = \frac{1}{n-(i-1)+1/2}+\frac{1}{n-i+1/2}

Which we can rewrite as 1ni+1/2=22n2i+1\frac{1}{n-i+1/2}=\frac{2}{2n-2i+1}

And for i=ni=n we have f(xn+1)f(xn)=23|f(x_{n+1})-f(x_n)|=\frac{2}{3}.

From all this we deduce that the total variation is of a form (as we counted each term in the sum two times : once for ii and once for i+1i+1) :

Vn(f)=21in22n+32i=40in12i+1V_n(f)=2\cdot \sum_{1\leq i \leq n}\frac{2}{2n+3-2i}=4\cdot \sum_{0\leq i\leq n}\frac{1}{2i+1}

We see that for nn\to \infty the variation behaves like the harmonic series, so it diverges, Vn(f)V_n(f)\to \infty when nn\to \infty. Therefore, it is not of bounded variation.



Need a fast expert's response?

Submit order

and get a quick answer at the best price

for any assignment or question with DETAILED EXPLANATIONS!

Comments

No comments. Be the first!

Leave a comment