Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / Paper 1 / 19 / a

Continuity. The function is continuous at $x_0$ when ${\lim }_{x\to x_0}f(x)=f(x_0)$. Equivalently, for every $\epsilon >0$ there exists $\delta >0$ such that $|x-x_0|<\delta$ within the domain of a function implies $|f(x)-f(x_0)|<\epsilon$; this is the epsilon-delta definition of continuity.

Differentiability. At an interior point $x_0$, the difference quotient must have a finite two-sided limit of a function:This defines differentiability and the derivative. At an endpoint one may instead state a one-sided definition relative to the interval. Differentiability implies continuity, because the increment is $h$ times a quotient with finite limit, but continuity alone does not guarantee differentiability.

As $x\to 0$ through nonzero values, $1/x^2\to +\infty$ and $e^{-1/x^2}\to 0=f(0)$. Thus $f$ is continuous at zero.

For the derivative at zero use its definition, rather than substituting into a formula obtained away from zero:Indeed, putting $t=1/|h|$ makes the absolute value $t{e}^{-t^2}$, which tends to zero since Gaussian decay dominates every power. Therefore $f$ is continuous and differentiable at zero, with $f^{\prime }(0)=0$. Away from zero, the chain rule gives $f^{\prime }(x)=2x^{-3}{e}^{-1/x^2}$.

For $x\ne 0$, induction giveswhere each $P_n$ is a polynomial. This recurrence follows from the product rule and $d(1/x)/dx=-1/x^2$. Since Gaussian decay dominates every power,These limits also describe the derivatives of the extension at zero. If $f^{(n)}(0)=0$, its next difference quotient is $P_n(1/h)e^{-1/h^2}/h$, which again tends to zero. Induction proves existence and continuity of every derivative, all zero there. This is a flat function, covered more generally by polynomial multiples of a Gaussian flat function.

Insert $u=-1/x^2$ into the exponential series $e^u={\sum }_{n=0}^{\infty }{u}^n/n!$. For every fixed $x\ne 0$, this gives the expansion with absolute convergenceThis is a Laurent series in inverse powers of $x$, as requested. It is not a Maclaurin series about zero: that series has every coefficient zero and cannot equal $f$ on a punctured neighborhood of zero. There is no contradiction, since the inverse-power expansion does not apply at $x=0$.

The flat function $f$ is an even function, has its unique zero and global minimum at the origin, and approaches the horizontal asymptote $1$ as $x\to \pm \infty$. It decreases for negative $x$ and increases for positive $x$, meeting the origin with a horizontal tangent line.

Its derivative is an odd function: $f^{\prime }(x)=2x^{-3}{e}^{-1/x^2}$ off zero, with $f^{\prime }(0)=0$. It is negative to the left and positive to the right, tends to zero both at the origin and at infinity, and has one negative trough and one positive crest. Indeed $f^{\prime \prime }(x)=2e^{-1/x^2}(2-3x^2)/x^6$ away from zero, so the change in slope of $f^{\prime }$ occurs once on each side. The exact crest and trough coordinates are not needed for the sketch.