Absolute value ($|x|$)

The absolute value function is convex by the triangle inequality:

For a real number $x$, its absolute value is $x$ when $x\ge 0$ and $-x$ otherwise; for a complex number $z$, it is the nonnegative magnitude $\sqrt{z\overline{z}}$.

Suppose a real function $g$ is differentiable at $a$, with $g(a)=0$ and $g^{\prime }(a)\ne 0$. The derivative definition gives $g(a+h)=g^{\prime }(a)h+o(|h|)$. The reverse triangle inequality then impliesThus $|g|$ has unequal one-sided derivatives, $|g^{\prime }(a)|$ on the right and $-|g^{\prime }(a)|$ on the left. More generally, multiplication by a function $w$ continuous at $a$ with $w(a)\ne 0$ gives right and left slopes $w(a)|g^{\prime }(a)|$ and $-w(a)|g^{\prime }(a)|$. This elementary expansion explains how a smooth oscillation can acquire infinitely many corners under the absolute value function, even after multiplication by a factor that makes it differentiable at an accumulation point.

Let the locations $a_n$ be distinct and bounded, and let $c_n>0$ with ${\sum }_n{c}_n<\infty$. The Weierstrass M-test gives locally uniform convergence of $G$, so the uniform limit theorem makes it continuous. The reverse triangle inequality bounds each term's difference quotient by $c_n$. Consequently a uniformly small tail permits passing each one-sided difference-quotient limit through the series. At every point outside the locations, $G^{\prime }(x)={\sum }_n{c}_n\mathrm{sgn}(x-a_n)$; at $a_m$, the right derivative minus the left derivative is $2c_m>0$. Thus the function has precisely the prescribed cusp locations, even when they accumulate at another point where the function remains differentiable.