Past exam of the methods of applied functional analysis course of the University of Oxford / 2010 / B / 4 / a / Solution

The Brouwer fixed-point theorem says that every continuous self-map of a closed ball in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$ has a fixed point.

Suppose $g$ has no zero in ${\overline{B}}_R$. Thenis a continuous map from ${\overline{B}}_R$ into its boundary, hence into ${\overline{B}}_R$. The Brouwer fixed-point theorem gives $T(x_0)=x_0$. This forces $|x_0|=R$ andcontradicting the assumed boundary inequality. Therefore $\boxed{g(x_0)=0\text{ for some }|x_0|\le R}$. This is the outward vector field zero theorem.