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Proof regarding continuity and Dirichlet function.

Mathematics Asked by MathCurious on February 1, 2021

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I was given this assignment and I was wondering if my proof makes sense? Also I’d love some feedback and tips on how to improve!

Assume $f(x_{0}) = 0$, we prove $g$ is continuous on $x_{0}$.
Let $ϵ > 0$. We choose δ =1. Let $|x-x_{0}|<δ$, then $left|gleft(xright)-gleft(x_{0}right)right|<ϵ$.
$left|gleft(xright)-gleft(x_{0}right)right|=left|fleft(xright)cdot Dleft(xright)-fleft(x_{0}right)cdot Dleft(x_{0}right)right|=left|fleft(xright)cdot Dleft(xright)-0right|=left|fleft(xright)cdot Dleft(xright)right|<ϵ$

By the density of $Bbb RsetminusBbb Q$ in $Bbb R$, there exists $b∈Bbb R$ such that $x_{0} – 1 < b < x_{0} + 1$ and $b∈Bbb RsetminusBbb Q$. We choose $x = b$, then we have $left|fleft(bright)cdot Dleft(bright)right|=left|fleft(bright)cdot0right|=0<ϵ$

By the density of $Bbb Q$ in $Bbb R$, there exists $c∈Bbb R$ such that $x_{0} – 1 < c < x_{0} + 1$ and $c∈Bbb Q$. We choose x = c, then we have $left|fleft(cright)cdot Dleft(cright)right|=left|fleft(cright)cdot1right|=left|fleft(cright)right|<ϵ$

Note that f is continuous at $x_{0}$, therefore $left|fleft(cright)-fleft(x_{0}right)right|<ϵ$. $left|fleft(cright)right|=left|fleft(cright)-fleft(x_{0}right)+fleft(x_{0}right)right|leleft|fleft(cright)-fleft(x_{0}right)right|+left|fleft(aright)right|=left|fleft(cright)-fleft(x_{0}right)right|+left|0right|=left|fleft(cright)-fleft(x_{0}right)right|<ϵ$

Therefore $g$ is continuous at $x_{0}$.

Assume $g$ is continuous at $x_{0}$. We prove $f(x_{0})=0$. Note that f is continuous on $a$. Assume toward contradiction that $f(x_{0})≠0$. Then we have $gleft(x_{0}right)=fleft(x_{0}right)cdot Dleft(x_{0}right) ➜ frac{gleft(x_{0}right)}{fleft(x_{0}right)}=Dleft(x_{0}right)$

By the algebra of continuous functions $frac{gleft(x_{0}right)}{fleft(x_{0}right)}$ is continuous, but we proved in class that $D(x)$ is not continuous on any $x∈Bbb R$. That means we have a contradiction, since we have a continuous function on one side of the equation, and a discontinuous function on the other which can’t be.
Therefore $f(x_{0}) = 0$.

One Answer

Assume that $f(x_0) = 0$, and let $varepsilon>0$. Then we need to find a $delta>0$ such that for each $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$ the following holds: $|f(x)D(x)| <varepsilon$. Observe that the continuity of $f$ at $x_0$ gives us a $delta_0 > 0$ such that $|f(x)| = |f(x)-f(x_0)|<varepsilon$ whenever $x in (x_0-delta_0,x_0+delta_0)$, so, we claim that $delta := delta_0$ works. Indeed, for each $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$ we have two cases: either $x in mathbb Q$ or $x notin mathbb Q$.

  • If $x in mathbb Q$ then $|f(x)D(x)| = |f(x)| < varepsilon$ because $x in (x_0-delta_0,x_0+delta_0)$.

  • If $x notin mathbb Q$ then $|f(x)D(x)| = 0 < varepsilon$.

Thus, we showed that for any $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$ the following holds: $|g(x)-g(x_0)| = |f(x)D(x)| <varepsilon$. Hence, $g$ is continuous at $x_0$.

Now suppose that $g$ is continuous at $x_0$, and for the sake of contradiction also suppose that $f(x_0) neq 0$. Then $|f(x_0)|>0$ and the continuity of $f$ at $x_0$ gives us a $delta>0$ such that $|f(x)-f(x_0)|<|f(x_0)|/2$ for all $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$; which implies that $|f(x)| > |f(x_0)|/2$ for all $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$. Thus, $f(x) neq 0$ for all $x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$, and then we can define $h : (x_0-delta,x_0+delta) to mathbb R$ by $$forall x in (x_0-delta,x_0+delta) : quad h(x) = frac{g(x)}{f(x)}.$$ Now, by the continuity of $f$ and $g$ at $x_0$, $h$ is also continuous at $x_0$, but $h$ is the same as the restriction of $D$ to $(x_0-delta,x_0+delta)$, a contradiction since $D$ is discontinuous in all $mathbb R$.

Answered by azif00 on February 1, 2021

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