Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / Prelims / Mathematics II / 7 / b

Let $f_n$ be the continuous triangular bumpand set $f_1=0$. At $x=0$ every term is zero, and each fixed $x>0$ eventually lies outside the support, so $f_n\to 0$ pointwise. The triangle has base $2/n$ and height $n$, henceThis concentrating triangular bump shows that pointwise convergence does not preserve integrals, even for continuous functions on a compact interval.

Take $f_n(x)=x^n$ on $[0,1]$. Each function is continuous, and the pointwise limit is $f(x)=0$ for $0\le x<1$, while $f(1)=1$. NeverthelessThe limiting function is Riemann integrable, since changing a value at one point does not change its Riemann integral. There is no uniform convergence: for every $n$, ${\sup }_{[0,1]}|f_n-f|=1$, with the supremum approached as $x\uparrow 1$ from below. Equivalently, the uniform limit theorem would require the limit to be continuous.

No: the unbounded length of the domain matters. Let $\varphi (t)=\max \{1-|t|,0\}$ and define $f_n(x)=n^{-1}\varphi (x/n)$ on $\mathbb{R}$. These are continuous functions with compact support, and ${\sup }_{\mathbb{R}}|f_n|=1/n\to 0$, so the sequence has uniform convergence to zero. However, the change of variables $t=x/n$ givesThe integral of the limit is zero. The supports widen as the heights decrease; a uniform bound on the heights gives no bound on the total area over an infinite interval.