One sufficient version of the divergence theorem is the following. Let be a bounded region in with a closed, piecewise smooth surface as its boundary, and let be a continuously differentiable function with values in on an open neighbourhood of the closure of . With the outward unit normal vector,
The boundary surface integral is the total outward flux integral. If the boundary has several components, each has the outward orientation relative to the material of ; inner components therefore point into the holes. Edges and isolated vertices may be omitted when assigning the unit normal vector, since they have zero surface area.
For a twice continuously differentiable function, an interior local extremum requires . At such a critical point, put . The second-derivative test gives a strict local minimum if and , a strict local maximum if and , and a saddle point if . When , the test is inconclusive. More generally the Hessian matrix is necessarily positive semidefinite at a local minimum and negative semidefinite at a local maximum, but these non-strict signs alone are not sufficient.
For this polynomial,
Subtracting the two stationarity equations gives . If , then ; if , the remaining equation gives or . Thus the only critical points are and .
At , , so it is a saddle point. At the determinant is zero, but along the value is , which takes both signs arbitrarily near zero. Therefore
In particular a vanishing Hessian determinant does not exclude a saddle point.
For a twice continuously differentiable function , its gradient and Hessian matrix are
A critical point solves . The Jacobian matrix of this vector equation is , so the multivariable Newton iteration is
Equivalently when the Hessian matrix is invertible. Solving the linear system is the direct computational form. A critical point found in this way need not be a local minimum; its type requires a separate check.
Peano existence theorem Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set, , and a continuous function. Through every there is a local solution of a differential equation: a continuously differentiable function on an open interval containing , satisfying the displayed initial value problem pointwise. No Lipschitz condition is assumed.[ref]
Continuity of a proposed rate law therefore guarantees at least one trajectory for a short time. For a physical model, this is a first consistency check: can the stated rule and initial condition actually be followed? Prediction also needs uniqueness. The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation below show how the same rule and initial condition can leave a departure time undetermined. The Picard-Lindelöf theorem supplies a sufficient additional hypothesis for uniqueness; failure of that hypothesis alone does not prove nonuniqueness.
For the initial value problem , , a forward solution of a differential equation can stay zero until any , then follow . The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation verify this freedom exactly.
Figure 1.
One initial condition admits an arbitrary forward waiting time
. Colored curves leave zero at the marked waits ; the dashed curve stays zero forever. Every curve satisfies the same original differential equation for . Details.
Local existence gives neither a global solution of a differential equation nor a bound on all future values. The continuous function already permits finite-time blowup; the finite-dimensional continuation criterion explains the additional issue of extending a trajectory within its domain.
Proof outline: choose a compact set . By the extreme value theorem, . Take with . Forward Euler method polygons remain in the closed ball and satisfy . The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem yields a convergent subsequence with uniform convergence. Uniform continuity of on makes their integral equation defect tend uniformly to zero, so the limit satisfies
The fundamental theorem of calculus gives a continuously differentiable function. Repeat backward and join at , where both derivatives equal .[ref]
The compact set here uses a finite-dimensional vector space; bounded closed balls in an arbitrary Banach space need not be compact. When , the constant solution of a differential equation works on the entire time interval in . In general the proof selects a subsequence, without asserting that all polygons converge to one unique trajectory.
Sobolev–Gallagher inequality Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-31
For a continuously differentiable function on an interval ,
To prove it, average over using the fundamental theorem of calculus. On either half of , the resulting derivative kernel has absolute value at most . Since , the displayed bound follows.
For the autonomous differential equation , the real solutions are nondecreasing and lie in . On each nonconstant interval, separation of variables gives , so the solution crosses from to in exactly time . Every nonconstant solution on the entire real time axis is consequently
for some real . The two constant solutions complete the list; solutions on shorter intervals are restrictions of these. At the joins both the derivative and the right-hand side are zero, so these are continuously differentiable functions. The right-hand side is continuous but fails Lipschitz continuity at both endpoints, allowing arbitrary waiting time at before departure. Once reaches , monotonicity forces it to stay there. The sine representation without the nonnegative-cosine restriction would incorrectly introduce decreasing pieces.
Uniform derivative convergence with an anchored value Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be continuously differentiable functions on an interval . If by uniform convergence on and at one fixed , then converge locally uniformly to a continuously differentiable function with . If is bounded, the convergence is uniform on all of .[ref]
The anchor fixes the additive constant that a derivative cannot see. By the fundamental theorem of calculus, define
The uniform limit theorem makes a continuous function, so the fundamental theorem of calculus gives . The displayed estimate proves uniform convergence wherever has a common finite bound, and therefore proves locally uniform convergence on any interval.
For example, on take . Its derivative is , with supremum error from , and . The reconstructed uniform limit is ; the exact supremum error is , equal to the bound above. Without an anchor, the constant functions have zero derivatives but no finite pointwise limit. On the real line, has convergent anchored values and uniformly convergent derivatives, but its supremum error from zero is infinite. The bounded-distance condition has a real role.
For each positive integer , put on . Its supremum norm is exactly , so this sequence of functions converges to zero by uniform convergence. Nevertheless,
Each of its complete sine oscillations contributes : rise from zero to , fall through zero to , then return to zero. Taking a partition of an interval through all extrema attains . Every further partition refinement merely subdivides monotone function segments, so the same reasoning as in partition example of total variation proves the upper bound too.
Figure 1.
The functions sin(2πnt)/n converge uniformly to zero while their total variation remains 4; all three function plots use the same vertical scale
. Details.
For a continuously differentiable function on a closed bounded interval, total variation also satisfies
Applied here, the derivative is , and integrating its absolute value over periods gives . The differentiability hypothesis matters: the partition definition applies much more widely than this derivative formula.[ref] Small pointwise size and small accumulated movement are different approximation goals.
Wolfe conditions 2026-10-24
For a continuously differentiable function, a descent direction and , the Wolfe conditions require both the Armijo condition and
This second inequality is the weak curvature condition: the slope must have become less negative. The strong variant instead requires . The weak version already guarantees a positive curvature pair for the Quasi-Newton secant equation.