A function is Fréchet differentiable at when there is a linear map such that
This linear map, which is unique, is the derivative .
For the chain rule, if is differentiable at and is differentiable at , then is differentiable at and . Indeed write and , where , . Since , substitution gives
which proves the assertion, including paths on which .
For , write . Away from the two diagonal lines, and the formula is a composition of smooth functions, hence differentiable. At the origin, , so its ratio to the displacement length tends to zero. Its derivative there is therefore zero: this is quadratic damping restores differentiability at the origin.
At a nonzero point with , necessarily . Along the direction,
The denominator inside the sine is locally an invertible function of , with nonzero derivative . Choose sequences tending to zero for which its reciprocal equals and . The quotients tend to and . Thus even this directional derivative fails to exist, and the function is not differentiable there. Consequently
For , the formula is smooth away from zero. At zero, , so the same remainder estimate gives zero derivative. Hence
No limit of the sine factor itself is needed for either derivative at the origin.
At , the squared prefactor tends to , so the oscillatory discontinuity again remains. Near zero,
It is unbounded near zero, despite its assigned zero value there, so it is neither continuous nor differentiable at zero.
At , put . Then
Thus is continuous and differentiable at , with . After translating the point to zero, the estimate shows how quadratic damping restores differentiability at the origin. The only discontinuities and nondifferentiability points are and ; the function is smooth away from these two points and . At , its derivative exists but is not continuous.
Indeed, for near , put . Then . Here and , so the derivative retains oscillations. Existence of the derivative at a point does not require continuity of nearby derivatives.
Figure 1.
Quadratic suppression giving a zero derivative at the positive pole, and an unbounded discontinuity at zero
. Details.