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For a bounded real function, inserting partition points increases its lower Darboux sum and decreases its upper Darboux sum. This follows interval by interval because infima increase on smaller sets while suprema decrease, and the new widths sum to the original width. A common partition refinement consequently proves $s(f,D_1)\le S(f,D_2)$ for arbitrary two partitions.

For a partition $D=\{a=x_0<x_1<\cdots <x_n=b\}$, put $\Delta x_k=x_k-x_{k-1}$ andBoundedness makes these finite. The lower Darboux sum and upper Darboux sum areSince $m_k\le M_k$ and the widths are positive, $s(f,D)\le S(f,D)$.

Splitting a partition interval into smaller intervals can only increase each infimum and decrease each supremum. The smaller widths sum to the original width. Its new lower contribution is therefore at least its old lower contribution, and its new upper contribution at most its old upper contribution. Repeating this for every inserted point proves Darboux sum refinement monotonicity:For arbitrary partitions, take their common partition refinement $D_{\ast }=D_1\cup D_2$. ThenNo compatibility of the original partitions is required.

Finally suppose $f\ge 0$ is Riemann integrable. Then $t_k=m_k\Delta x_k\ge 0$, so every product factor is nonnegative and the exponential inequality can be multiplied safely:A lower Darboux sum is no greater than the Riemann integral, since the integral equals the supremum of all lower sums. Monotonicity of the exponential therefore gives the exponential bound for a lower-sum productFor a degenerate interval $a=b$, the empty product and the exponential are both one.

For a bounded real function on $[0,1]$, take a partition $P$ with nodes $0=x_0<\cdots <x_N=1$. Its lower Darboux sum and upper Darboux sum areThe function is Riemann integrable when ${\sup }_{P}L(f,P)={\inf }_{P}U(f,P)$; their common value is its Riemann integral. Equivalently, for every $\eta >0$ some partition has $U-L<\eta$. Indeed a common refinement of nearly extremizing upper and lower partitions proves necessity, while arbitrarily small gaps force equality of the two integrals. This is the Riemann integrability criterion.

A continuous function on a compact interval is bounded and uniformly continuous. Choose a mesh small enough that its oscillation on each subinterval is less than $\eta$. Then $U-L\le \eta {\sum }_j(x_j-x_{j-1})=\eta$; using $\eta /2$ first makes the desired inequality strict. Thus every continuous function on $[0,1]$ is Riemann integrable.

For a partition $P$, write $U(f,P)$ and $L(f,P)$ for the upper Darboux sum and lower Darboux sum. The Riemann integrability criterion for bounded $f$ is that for every $\epsilon >0$ some partition satisfies $U(f,P)-L(f,P)<\epsilon$. Thus if the gaps for $D_n$ tend to zero, the Riemann integrability criterion immediately proves that $f$ is Riemann integrable.

Conversely, suppose $f$ is Riemann integrable, and choose a fixed partition $P$ with $U(f,P)-L(f,P)<\epsilon /2$. Let $r$ be the number of its interior division points and choose $M\ge 1$ with $|f|\le M$. Call a cell of $D_n$ bad when its interior contains a division point of $P$. There are at most $r$ bad cells, and their total length is at most $r/n$.

Every other cell lies in a single cell of $P$, so its oscillation is no larger than that of the containing cell. Summing the contributions of these good cells gives at most $U(f,P)-L(f,P)$, while each bad cell has oscillation at most $2M$. Therefore the finite bad-cell estimate for Darboux sums givesFor large enough $n$, the right-hand side is less than $\epsilon$. This proves the uniform-mesh Darboux criterionThis argument does not assume that the partitions $D_n$ are nested; in general they are not.

For the composition, $f$ takes values in $[-M,M]$. Since $g$ is continuously differentiable, the extreme value theorem bounds both $|g|$ and $|g^{\prime }|$ on that interval. In particular, let $K={\sup }_{[-M,M]}|g^{\prime }|<\infty$. The mean value theorem states that a function continuous on the interval between $s,t$ and differentiable in its interior satisfies $g(s)-g(t)=g^{\prime }(\xi )(s-t)$ for some intermediate $\xi$. HenceOn each partition cell, this bounds the oscillation of $g\circ f$ by $K$ times the oscillation of $f$, whether or not the local extrema are attained. It follows thatThe composition is bounded, so the proved uniform-mesh Darboux criterion applies. Thus $g\circ f$ is Riemann integrable. The reusable fact is Lipschitz composition preserves Riemann integrability; continuous differentiability supplies the required bound on the range of $f$.

Let $L$ be the supremum of all lower Darboux sums and $U$ the infimum of all upper Darboux sums. The assumed comparison of arbitrary lower and upper sums gives $L\le U$. For the partition supplied for a given $\epsilon$,Since this holds for every positive $\epsilon$, $U=L$. Thus the Riemann integrability criterion gives

If $f$ is continuous on $[a,b]$, the Heine-Cantor theorem makes it uniformly continuous. Given $\epsilon >0$, choose $\delta$ so that intervals of length below $\delta$ have oscillation below $\epsilon /(b-a)$. A partition of mesh below $\delta$ then satisfiesproving that Continuous functions are Riemann integrable.

For the function defined using $g$, choose $K$ with $|f|\le K$. Given $\epsilon >0$, choose $\delta >0$ so small that $2K\delta <\epsilon /2$. On $[\delta ,1]$, the function $g$ is continuous and therefore has a partition whose upper-minus-lower sum is below $\epsilon /2$. Adding the interval $[0,\delta ]$ contributes at most $2K\delta$, regardless of the value $f(0)=\lambda$. Hence the full Darboux-sum difference is below $\epsilon$, and

Finally, for any partition $a=x_0<\cdots <x_n=b$, the mean value theorem supplies ${\xi }_i\in (x_{i-1},x_i)$ such thatSumming telescopes toa Riemann sum for the Riemann-integrable function $f^{\prime }$. Equivalently, every lower derivative sum is at most this telescoping value and every upper derivative sum is at least it. Taking the common upper and lower Darboux integrals proves the fundamental theorem of calculus conclusion

For a partition of an interval $P:0=x_0<\cdots <x_m=1$, putThe upper Darboux sum and lower Darboux sum areThe upper and lower integrals areThe bounded function is Riemann integrable when these values agree, and their common value is its Riemann integral.

For the indicator of the rational numbers, every nondegenerate interval contains both a rational number and an irrational number. Hence every upper sum is one and every lower sum is zero. The function is not Riemann integrable.

A bounded function on $[0,1]$ is Riemann integrable if and only if its upper Darboux sum minus its lower Darboux sum on the equal-length partition $D_n$ tends to zero. Sufficiency follows directly from the Riemann integrability criterion. Necessity follows by comparing with a fixed partition whose gap is small and using the finite bad-cell estimate for Darboux sums. The equal-length partitions need not be nested.